Zelgadiss's Slow Descent
by Chocolate Covered Demon
Summary: Ryuk becomes bored again, and he drops another Death Note. This time, he drops it in Zelgadiss's world. And what's Zelgadiss going to do with it? Search for his cure, of course! COMPLETED! DN spoilers! Xel/Zel,Now M
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Death Note or Slayers. Poo.

Also, tons of DN spoilers here!!

Zelgadiss was startled, to say the least. It wasn't every day a book fell from the sky. But he figured that maybe some passing flying sorcerer or someone had dropped it. Except he couldn't see anyone in the sky. So of course, he did the only logical thing to do. He walked over and picked it up.

He couldn't read the cover, to his dismay. It was in some language he didn't recognize. Opening it up, he found more unintelligible marks on the inside cover. But the lined pages inside were blank. In the back, there was a scratched-out box. Beneath it were these sentences written in common:

Death Note

How to Use It:

The human whose name is written in this note shall die.

This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject's name, it will happen.

If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack.

After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

Zelgadiss' eyes flitted over the page. No way. This had to be some sort of a hoax or something. Something like death couldn't be that easy. On the other hand, he'd heard of death spells, but the caster still had to be in the vicinity of the person he was casting on. And it could be countered. Could this be countered? He had no idea. He glanced around, but of course no one was wandering down this back road today, other than him. He quickly hid it in his pack and sprinted to the next village.

He secured himself a room in a shady inn and took out the book. The human whose name is written in this note shall die... Note, huh. It looked like an expensive journal to him. People usually wrote on parchment unless they were rich. He flipped through the pages... yes, all blank. Just making sure.

So... how to test it...

He had to find out immediately if it worked. So that meant, it had to be someone in this inn. He'd seen plenty of shady figures around that he was sure the world would be better without, but he didn't know any of their names. The only name he knew was that of the innkeeper. Sure, why not. He'd been rude before, and it wasn't like anyone would be able to trace his death back to Zelgadiss.

So he wrote the name. "Tandis Wher." Should he have him die of a heart attack, or something more specific? More specific. He didn't like to leave anything to chance. "Stabbed by one of the guests in his inn. Screams as loud as he can, then dies."

Six minutes and forty seconds later, he heard a scream downstairs, and some shouts. Zelgadiss' mouth dropped. No way... No way. This was real!

Then... he'd just killed an innocent person. A sadistic grin began to spread across his face. Yes, he'd just killed someone, and all it took was a few scratches on a page. Think of what he could do with this power! Maybe he could find a way to use it to find his cure. No, better! He could use it to... Nah, he didn't really have any desire to rule the world. It was too full of filth anyway. So what should he do with it?

He shrugged. But wait... what about the sorcerer who'd dropped it? No doubt he or she would be after it. He had to get out of here, and now. He snapped the book shut, packed up, and levitated to the ground. He had to get away from here, as fast as possible. So he sprinted down the road as fast as he could.

"Oi, what're ya runnin' from?" A voice behind him. Zelgadiss whipped around to find, right in front of him...

A demon. Sure, he'd met tons of demons before, but this one took the cake. His huge, unblinking eyes stared at him, his wide mouth was grinning. But if there was one thing he'd learned about demons, it was that the uglier they were, the less power they had. So he'd make quick work of this one. He started chanting.

"Eh? What're ya doin'? Chantin' a spell? Heh." The being chuckled a little. "What're ya doin' that for?"

"RA TILT!" Zelgadiss unleashed the spell, enveloping the demon in white flames. Btu something felt wrong. When you cast a spell, you cast it on a target. And this time... he felt like there hadn't been a target to begin with. A hallucination?

The being laughed out loud. "Really. Something like that ain't 'nough ta hurt _me._ But at least yer not screamin' yer head off or anything." He held out his hand. "Nice ta meetcha. I'm Ryuk."

Zelgadis didn't take the hand. "Ryuk. All right Ryuk, what are you? An overworlder?"

Ryuk laughed. Again. "Heh. I guess you could say that. Not quite, though. I'm a shinigami."

"A shini...gami?" Zelgadiss blinked. "Are you here to kill me or something? Because if you are, I won't—"

"Heh, you got spunk, Zelgadiss. I like that. But there ain't nothin' you can do to a shinigami. But don't worry... I'm not here ta kill ya. Yet, anyway."

"Really. Then why are you here?"

"'Cuz. That's my notebook you've got there." He pointed at the spot where the notebook was hidden beneath Zelgadiss' cloak.

"Really," Zelgadiss said. "Are you here to take it back?"

"Nah, it's yours. Soon as it landed in this human world, it belonged to the human world. And now, it belongs to you." He pointed a long fingernail at Zelgadiss.

"I see. Then what do you want?"

"Heh heh. Simple. While you've got that notebook, I gotta follow you around."

"Terrific. So I'm going to have this huge shinigami following me around. Not suspicious at all..." Zelgadiss said half to himself, rolling his eyes.

"Ah, don' worry 'bout that. No one can see me. 'Less they touch the notebook, 'course."

"Oh. Well, that's good." Zelgadiss said. "So no one's after this notebook?"

"Nope."

"Then I can use it freely without worrying about getting caught..."

"Well, I dunno about that. Humans can be pretty smart, ya know."

Zelgadiss smirked. "I can be pretty smart, too. So, anything else I need to know?"

"Yeah, tons. To start... let's see... oh, I might as well tell ya, it might make things more interesting for me. You can control the victim's actions for 28 days before he dies. That's the notebook's limit." His grin widened a little. "The last owner found that one out for me."

"Okay... Who was this last owner?"

"No one you know, I promise."

"All right. What else?"

"Well. If you use this notebook, you won't be goin' ta heaven or hell. But you'll figure out that after you die."

"Great. Would've been nice to know that before I used it... What else?"

"Well, in the end, I'm gonna be the one to kill ya. With _my_ notebook." He patted the notebook strapped to his thigh.

"Hmm. And when will that be?"

Ryuk chuckled. "Same as it was for the last guy, Zel. When I get bored."

"I guess I'll have to keep you interested then."

"Yeah, I guess so!" Ryuk looked like he was having a blast.

"Anything else?" Zelgadiss asked.

Ryuk shrugged. "Don't get greedy. I already told you plenty."

Zelgadiss half-growled. "I said, _anything else_?"

Ryuk snerked. "Persistent, aren't ya. I'll make you a deal. I've got a hankering for apples. Find me ten of 'em, and I'll tell you more."

"Fine, fine," Zelgadiss sighed. Where was he going to get apples? He doubted there would be an orchard just lying around. "You'll have to wait until we get to a city, though."

"Fine wi' me. Just hurry up."

"Fine." The sooner he found the apples, the sooner he got his answers. So Zelgadiss sprinted as fast as he could down the road, the shinigami keeping pace with him in the air.

Zelgadiss covered himself up when he entered the city, which made the shinigami laugh again. "Aw come on, yer not _that_ ugly. Actually, compared with most humans, I think you look purty interestin'. Most of them look soo boring."

"Gee, thanks," Zelgadiss mumbled through his white mask.

"Naw, really. I mean you're still purty boring and dull lookin', but at least you don't have that ugly pale or brown skin most humans have. So dull."

Zelgadiss didn't even dignify that with a response. This was going to be hell, wasn't it, listening to this shinigami for the rest of his life...

But Ryuk didn't take the hint. "The last guy I was with looked _really_ boring. Lotsa girls seemed ta like him, but I don't get what was so special about how he looked. He looked just like everyone else. Luckily his brain was interestin'. Got all these weird ideas about purifying the world and stuff... He failed, of course, heh heh. Death Note owners don't tend to last very long in the human worlds... Didn't really expect it to happen like it did to Light, though. That was his name, you know. Light. He was damned interesting... Once he died, it got pretty borin' for me, ya know. So I went ahead and dropped the notebook in your world instead. Oh, yeah, in case you were wonderin', the other guy was in a different world. You'd know it if it was yours. He really changed that world all right... for the better, I think. More interesting. Everyone was really afraid and stuff... oh, but only a little after he died, it changed right back. Oops, too bad, I thought. Then some a' my friends decided to see what would happen if they continued Kira's work. That's what they called Light, you know. Kira. But they got bored and stopped, and that was the end of it."

God, ramble, ramble, ramble. All this guy did was ramble on. Zelgadiss sighed.

"Not chattin' with me? Oh well, I get the idea. Don't want to look weird—well, any weirder than ya already do, right! Heh heh!"

Zelgadiss' eyebrow twitched. Ah! There! Apples! Finally. He bought twenty. Ryuk kept silent for the next thirty seconds drooling over them, to Zelgadiss' satisfaction. But then he started right up again.

"Well, s'all right. Light did the same thing, ya know. Heh heh. Damn, those were good times. I hope you keep me as interested as he did, Zel!"

Zelgadiss found a suitably cockroach-infested inn and rushed up to his room, where he slammed the door shut. He glared at the shinigami, eyebrow twitching.

"I suppose that maybe," Zelgadiss began, "It would be too much to ask for you to keep your big mouth shut?"

"Aw, that's not very nice..."

Zelgadiss took out an apple from his pack. Ryuk drooled. "Let's just say I'll be more inclined to give you _these_ if you keep quiet once in a while."

"Heh... all right, you're the boss..." Zelgadiss tossed him an apple, and he ate it whole.

"All right then. I got you the apples. So tell me. What else do I need to know?"

"Well, it wouldn't be any fun to tell you everything at once..."

"Really, Ryuk," Zelgadiss said. "Wouldn't it be more fun to watch me use the Death Note to the best of my ability?"

"Eh, I guess..."

"Then tell me. What else do I need to know?"

"Well," Ryuk said, lying down on the bed, "There's the eye deal."

"What's that?"

"You give me half your lifespan, and I give you my eyes."

"Half my lifespan...? Hm... What do your eyes do exactly?"

"Heh." Ryuk chuckled. "With shinigami eyes, you can see a person's name and lifespan by looking at their face."

Zelgadiss' breath hitched a little. That was the hardest part about using the Death Note: you had to know a person's name. But if he had the eyes... he'd be practically unstoppable. "Half of my lifespan... that's a lot, Ryuk." So that was how Ryuk had known Zelgadiss' name in the beginning. He'd wondered a little about that.

"Yup, sure is. But don't bother asking me how much lifespan ya got. I can't tell ya. Against the rules."

"The rules?"

"Yep. Shinigami have ta follow rules. But I'm not gonna tell you what they are, so don't ask."

Zelgadiss sighed. "Fine, fine." But without the eyes... the Death Note was practically useless. With them... he could do anything. Almost. But half his lifespan... Well, he'd worry about that later. "One more thing. How far can you control people's actions before they die?"

Ryuk shrugged. "Pretty damn far. You can't make 'em do the impossible. And you can't make 'em do something they normally wouldn't be able ta do. Like Light... well, he tried to see if he could get someone to write something they didn't know. He couldn't." Ryuk looked at Zelgadiss, and grabbed the apples from his pack. "But that's the last freebie. Yer gonna hafta figure out the rest yerself." To Zelgadiss' disgust, Ryuk then began shovelling the apples down his throat. Zelgadiss looked away.

"Only ten for now, Ryuk. That was the deal."

"Aww, but..."

Zelgadiss took the pack and put it under the bed. "More later."

"Eh... all right I guess... So what're ya gonna do wi' the Death Note? Something interesting, I hope."

"Yes, Ryuk, I think you could say that."

"Then what?"

Zelgadiss grinned. "I'm going to find my cure, of course." A plan had already begun forming in his mind.

---

A/N: Like? Love? Hate? Tell me! Pwease? Pretty pwease?

Oh, and let me know if I've gotten a fact wrong somewhere. XD And if I should post this somewhere else. I couldn't find a crossovers category...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A week later, Zelgadiss sat at the town center of a small, backwoods town in Zefielia. A messenger man raced up on his horse, carrying the town's mail in a bag. "Excuse me," Zelgadiss said.

The man dismounted and looked at Zelgadiss with disdain.

"Is there any mail in your bag for Relseth Irian?" Zelgadiss asked.

"Maybe..." The man searched through his pack and produced a letter.

"Thank you," Zelgadiss said. He took the letter and left.

"What's in the letter?" Ryuk asked him as soon as Zelgadiss had turned away, letter in hand. Zelgadiss was headed out of town.

Zelgadiss smirked beneath his mask. "Tell me, Ryuk, where you paying attention while I was at the library?" Zelgadiss whispered.

"Uh, nope... can't say I was."

"And when I was writing in the notebook?"

"Nah, I wanted that stuff to stay a surprise."

"Okay... well I know you were paying attention when I talked to that man traveling to Elmekia."

"Yeah, kinda..."

Zelgadiss sighed. As soon as he was out of town, he sat down beneath a tree and opened the letter. Inside, about twenty names were scribbled down, hastily and in horrible handwriting, but legible. "There's a little-known scrying pool in Elmekia, Ryuk, kept by a small order called the Yelmen, according to my research. These are their names." Zelgadiss wrote down all the names, one by one, and next to them he wrote, "On the 19th of the 10th month, drinks water contaminated with a deadly but non-contagious disease. Dies on the 20th at 2:09 PM." He included some variation for each one, so that they didn't all die at exactly the same time and on the same day, but not too much variation that the victims would have time to send for help—they would all die within a few days of each other. He didn't want anyone to know about this if he could help it.

"Wow, that's pretty heartless," Ryuk said with his usual huge grin.

Zelgadiss' pen stopped for a moment—but just for a moment. "I've killed people before, Ryuk, with my own two hands. Many people. This notebook just makes it easier."

"Ohhh? Really?" Ryuk laughed again. Damn that annoying laugh.

"Yes," Zelgadiss said. "Really." But as he continued to write, he felt something slipping away from him, something he hadn't noticed he'd gained in his time with Lina. He frowned. His cure was so close—he couldn't let his emotions get in the way now.

"So how'd you get these guys' names?" Ryuk asked.

Zelgadiss rolled his eyes. "I don't see why I should explain it to you if you weren't paying attention before."

"Aw, come on."

Zelgadiss sighed and pointed to something he'd written previously in the Death Note. "It's all here, Ryuk."

Zelgadiss had written:

Ryan Serlith. Tells his superiors and friends he is going on a trip to Elmekia. Talks to a strange-looking man in a white shroud with blue eyes and is convinced that the Yelmen order is involved in a conspiracy against the state, and that the strange-looking man in a white shroud can help him. Does not tell anyone where he is going or why he is going there because he feels it should be kept a secret. When he arrives at the order, he uses his authority to find out the names of everyone there. He hastily writes down all the names of all the members of the order and sends it in a letter addressed to the non-existent man Relseth Irian in the small town of Rean, Zefielia. He leaves the order on the 17th of the 10th month, after drinking contaminated water. Dies the 18th of the 10th month on his way home of a mysterious, non-contagious disease from that contaminated water. Is as secretive about all his actions as possible.

"Huh," Ryuk said when he'd finished reading. "Well, all right. That is pretty well thought-out I guess... But how did you know everything would work out right?"

"I didn't," Zelgadiss said. "But it seems like it worked. And I don't think anyone will think anything's wrong. Ryan Serlith is an ordinary, low-ranking courtier who is famous for going on long trips without much of a reason. Lucky for me, I've seen his face before. "

"Huh, well all right..." Ryuk said. "But why did you want to kill them?"

Zelgadiss smirked. "You'll see, Ryuk. You'll see." He put his death note away in his pack and got up.

"Where're we goin?"

"To the scrying pool in Elmekia, of course. And Ryuk, I think I'll be making that eye trade with you soon."

"I see... Oh! I get it!" Ryuk said. "Because you don't got video cameras or nothin' in this world!"

"Video... cameras?" Zelgadiss blinked. He shook his head.

"Yeah," Ryuk said. "They're kinda nifty I guess. It records images and stuff."

"I see..." Zelgadiss shrugged. "Well, whatever. You see, Ryuk, I'm not all that gifted at scrying. So I need a scrying pool."

"To see yer victims, right?"

He felt a little twinge at that. But he ignored it. "Yes, Ryuk. Obviously."

"So how're ya gonna use that to getcher cure?"

"Just wait and find out already, Ryuk." Zelgadiss said, and and refused to talk to Ryuk for the rest of the trip. Luckily for Ryuk, at Zelgadiss-speed, it only took a day or so to get there.

"Hey, come on!" Ryuk whined. "I mean, it's not like there's anyone around! Hurry up and say something! I'm bored."

"Here," Zelgadiss said, tossing him an apple. "Shut up." They'd arrived: at the bottom of this hill, there would be a cave with a scrying pool in it, probably surrounded by bodies. No, hopefully surrounded by bodies. If it wasn't surrounded by dead, swollen, disease-ridden bodies, then something had gone wrong.

"Ray Wing!" Zelgadiss cast, and made it to the bottom in no time. And indeed, there were disease-ridden bodies, swollen and festering and starting to smell. One was lying in front of the entrance to the cave. Zelgadiss stepped over it.

"Hey, Zelgadiss," Ryuk said, "Aren't you afraid of getting sick?"

"Not really," Zelgadiss replied. "My immune system has been through worse." Actually, he wasn't even sure if he could get sick—or if he had an immune system. "And besides, I specifically said a _non-contagious _disease."

"Well, all right," Ryuk said with a shrug.

Zelgadiss kind of smirked. It was smelly, but he'd done this with a few scribbles in a book! That had been it! "Heh," he chuckled to himself. "Hey, Ryuk, I don't suppose you could help me with these bodies?" he asked, and began pulling them out of the cave. He piled them up. One, two, three, four, five...

"Not interested..." Ryuk said, stealing an apple from Zelgadiss' pack.

"I'll get you more apples," Zelgadiss offered.

"Awww... but come on. I'm a shinigami! I don't do that sorta..."

"Fifty apples for moving these bodies out of the cave for me. Into the woods, where I don't have to smell them or look at them."

"Fifty?" Ryuk considered for a moment. "All right, all right. But you better keep your enda the bargain!" And he moved the bodies out, dropping them on Zelgadiss' pile. Zelgadiss watched, counting the bodies carefully. Yes, twenty-three. The number of names he'd written in the Death Note, and the number of Yelmen there were rumored to be.

"Thanks, Ryuk," Zelgadiss said, and headed in. The cave still stank a little of disease, but Zelgadiss had a good stomach for that kind of thing. He followed the passageway down, and there, fed by a small stream from outside, was the scrying pool. He walked up to it, eagerness glittering in his eyes. "Seiruun," he said to the pool, and it immediately showed the star-shaped city. He pointed, and it zoomed in. The castle. It wasn't immune to scrying as he'd expected. And there, working on a desk, was Amelia. "Amelia..." She wouldn't approve—No. Zelgadiss wiped that thought from his head. What he was really interested in was the temples. But scrying around, he couldn't find any he hadn't known about, and he'd already searched them high and low for his cure. Of course, Seiruun wouldn't be hiding secrets from him. Amelia was, after all, one of his friends. She wouldn't keep anything from him.

There was that twinge again. Goddamnit, go away!

But where should he look next? Of course, there were plenty of rumors of hidden temples that he wanted to pursue. And he had all the time in the world; the Yelmen kept to themselves, and were fairly secret. No one would be looking for them.

"Hey, Zelgadiss! I'm done! Give me those apples!"

Zelgadiss sighed. "Fine, fine," he said, and left the cave to find those fifty apples. It was a good thing that the apple vendor in the nearest city hadn't had very good business earlier in the day. Zelgadiss hadn't thought about the fact that it was getting dark.

Speaking of which... as soon as he got back to the cave, Zelgadiss started to think about getting some sleep. He had run quite a bit that day... And he'd just pushed fifty apples in a wheelbarrow back from the city. He was pretty tired... but he wanted to get started!

Zelgadiss took a deep breath. No, patience. He had time. He should get some sleep; he wouldn't be able to work as well if he was this tired.

So he found a mat of straw left behind by one of the Yelmen, and he went to sleep.

_Zelgadiss..._ a voice called out in his sleep. A man's voice. _Him. _Why the hell was he dreaming about him? _Zelgadiss._.._What _are _you doing?_

"Shut up," Zelgadiss mumbled, and fell into a deeper, dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N:

Huh. I got reviews? Wow! Thanks, guys! I realize it's a little late ( : cough : half a year...) but I didn't think the story would actually catch anyone's attention. So here I am, continuing! YAY!

Thanks to nikka-chi, Zel-stay-clear-of-the-dark-allies, and Harmonizing Dichotomy for the reviews.

Err... and the pairings for this fanfic? That's a secret, Dichotomy-san.

Also, no, Zel hasn't made the trade yet. Just plans to.

I've decided this will take place after Try, since not all of Revolution is out yet.

Chapter 3

The morning found Zelgadiss feeling refreshed, in the sense that he wasn't tired anymore, but he felt a little unhappy. He felt down, for some reason, and a bit perplexed...Last night, he'd had a dream about _him._

What the hell?

He hadn't seen nor heard of him for more than a year, not after the Dark Star incident. That was the same time he'd parted ways with Amelia, Lina, and Gourry. His friends.

There was that damned twinge again. It happened whenever he thought about them. This time, he could tell it was more than a twinge this time, it was made of thoughts, feelings, trying to seep their way to the surface. "No!" he cried, slamming his fist against the side of the cave. They were distractions. He could not have that, not now.

And in front of him, Ryuk walked through the wall on the other side of the cave. That was a little creepy--nothing he hadn't seen Mazoku do, though. "You're up," he commented.

"Yes, I'm up," Zelgadiss hissed. "What do you want." His kind of down feeling had changed to a very unhappy, angry Zelgadiss. He wasn't sure why. He was on the verge of finding his cure--probably--but somehow, he felt grumpy.

"An apple, of course," Ryuk said, grinning.

Zelgadiss didn't feel like fighting with him. He took one out of his pack and tossed it to the Shinigami. Zelgadiss munched on another for his own breakfast.

"So, what're you gonna do next?" Ryuk asked. "Gonna make the eye trade now?" 

Zelgadiss sighed and took another bite of his apple. "No," he said. "Not yet. Not until I'm sure I need it."

Ryuk shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said.

Zelgadiss stood, dusted himself off, and wandered over to the scrying pool in the middle of the room. Empty blackness stared back at him. What was he going to search for? He crossed his arms and thought. Wait--he had an idea, but if he was going to do it, he would need to make the trade.

But... half of his lifespan?

Half of his lifespan, or a lifetime as a chimera. He frowned. He'd dedicated his life to finding his cure anyway. Why not give half of it up? It was worth it. "Fine, Ryuk. I'll make the trade," he said.

"Hahahahaha!" Ryuk laughed. "Good..." Ryuk walked over to the chimera. "It will only take a second..." A hand came down over Zelgadiss' eyes, Ryuk's hand. He closed his eyes.

And when he opened them a second later, the world looked exactly the same. He couldn't see Ryuk's name, but then, he didn't see a reason why he would have. He frowned and looked at the pool. "Show me... Atlas City. The sorcerer's guild."

The pool glistened for a minute, then cleared, and there, in the pool, was an image of the sorcerer's guild, bustling with sorcerers. And each and every one of them had a name above their head.

Zelgadiss smirked. "Perfect..." he said. He took out the Death Note, a map, and a quill pen. He paused for a moment. What he was about to do would probably send the world into turmoil--starting in about 28 days. But this was the only path to his cure. Besides, the world had been thrown into turmoil before. It would recover. And what did he care? It's not like the world had done anything for him. He shook his head and began to write.

About a half an hour later, Zelgadiss closed the book. He let out a breath. The power this thing gave him... it was almost intoxicating. If it worked the way it was supposed to, then within 28 days, all the most powerful sorcerers in the world--minus Lina, of course--would die, without a chance to even try a counterspell. He smirked. This book here probably made him the most powerful being in the world. "Heh..." there wasn't anyone who could stop him, really... except... he frowned. Two beings: Ryuk, and... _him_. The one he'd dreampt about last night.

Xelloss.

But what would Xelloss care? He had a more pressing issue. He looked over at Ryuk, who had decided to raid Zelgadiss' pack for the remaining apples. Ryuk was a problem, and he doubted it was a problem he could just wish away with the Death Note.

"Ryuk."

"Nn?" The monster swallowed his apple and looked up.

"Tell me about shinigami."

Ryuk shrugged. "Not much to know 'bout 'em, really."

"Really."

"Nope. They usually hang around in the shinigami realm, gambling or whatever to keep from gettin' bored. Nasty place. Kill people every so often to keep from dying."

Zelgadiss' eyes widened. "Shinigami can die?"

Ryuk shrugged. "Sure, kinda. If they stop writing names in their Death Note. Heh." Ryuk patted his side, where another Death Note was sitting. "No chance of that happenin' ta me."

"Ah,I see you have two," Zelgadiss observed.

"Mmhmm." Ryuk munched on another apple. "Only one other way to kill a shinigami--and I don't think I'll tell you that. Well, not that it'd really matter. You couldn't do it."

"I couldn't?"

"Nope." Ryuk paused. "Eh, what the hell. Not like you could do anything with it. Heh heh. I'm not the easiest to kill, that's for sure."

"All right. If you're not in any danger, then why don't you tell me?"

"Sure, sure. But you're not gonna be able ta use it." Ryuk grinned a little wider. Creepy, that grin. "You make 'em fall in love with you. Then you get 'em to kill someone to save you. Shinigami exist to shorten lives, not lengthen them. So if a shinigami saves someone, they die."

"Huh..." Zelgadiss rolled this new information over in his head.

"But I'll never fall for a human, that's fer sure."

Zelgadiss nodded. That was true... Ryuk didn't strike him as the type to fall for anyone. "But for you to know that, it must've happened, right?"

"Mmhmm. Pretty interesting story, actually. Light teamed up with this other human who had a Death Note, and her shinigami, Rem, loved her. But Rem was a pain in the neck for Light, so Light killed her."

"How'd he do that?" Zelgadiss asked, for once, genuinely interested in one of Ryuk's tales.

"He put the other human in danger, so Rem had to save her. Heh heh, pretty cool, if you ask me. Light sure had brains. More than you do, Zelgadiss."

"I see. But Light died."

"Eh, probably partly 'cuz o' that world's technology. You'd probably have an easier time, I think. If you wanted to take over the world." 

"Not particularly," Zelgadiss shrugged. "I just want my cure."

"Right," Ryuk shrugged. "Whatever. I think taking over the world is much more fun, personally."

For the rest of the day, Zelgadiss waited, watching the sorcerer's guild through his scrying pool. There was a certain reason Zelgadiss had chosen this particular pool: Its scrying was very difficult to detect and it was able to get through most anti-scrying spells. Perfect for someone who wanted to watch sorcerers. So Zelgadiss was able to continue watching, undetected. He watched the scrying pool, patiently, waiting. No one showed any signs of alarm, no one detected the deadly spell of the Death Note. And everyone acted exactly as the Death Note had instructed them.

Then, precisely at the appointed times of 4:32, 4:35, and 4:42 PM, Athcer Delkal, Atina Serihin, and Raper Meegh died when an experiment they had been working on, a brau demon/lion/dragon chimera, broke loose and killed them all. At 5:03 PM, the third-rate sorcerer Deniga Mosit managed to kill the chimera before it did too much damage. At 5:22 PM, she died from her injuries.

Zelgadiss watched the grisly scene from his scrying pool, watching as everything went exactly as had been dictated by his instructions in the Death Note. "Perfect," he breathed, when it was over. "Although... it is a bit of a shame, I guess..."

"Regretting it?" Ryuk asked.

"No, not really," Zelgadiss replied. "It needed to be done." He turned away from the scene, and the pool went black.

"If you say so. I didn't get the point."

"It's not that hard to figure out," Zelgadiss said. He started packing his things.

"Hey, where're we goin'?" Ryuk asked.

"Ralteague," Zelgadiss replied, and left the cave. He didn't really want to leave it open and vulnerable, but well, he didn't really know any particularly good warding spells. He made a mental note to remedy that.

"All right, whatever, lead on!" Ryuk said, following Zelgadiss.

Zelgadiss grunted in response, then hurried off; he'd have to hurry if he was going to get to Ralteague in time; he'd have to take a roundabout route if he didn't want to pass through Seiruun. And, for some reason, he really, really didn't.

The journey was mostly uneventful. Zelgadiss avoided all major cities, passing only through small towns when he absolutely needed to. In one of these small towns, he bought a new outfit, a black one that covered him from head to toe. Just to make sure no one recognized him. He changed and hurried on. Luckily, the side roads he took were mostly clear. If any bandits tried attacking, Zelgadiss just breezed through them. He wanted to leave as little a trail as possible. And he was very practiced at being sneaky. His work with Rezo had required it.

The days were mostly uneventful, but the nights...

_Zelgadiss_, cried a voice. Xelloss. _What_ are_ you doing? Such strange behavior..._

"Shut up!" Zelgadiss would wake up to hear himself yelling, much to Ryuk's amusement. Once, Zelgadiss threw a rock at him. It only amused Ryuk more.

They ended their journey at the city of Inatia, Ralteague, three days later. Tired as he was, Zelgadiss went straight through the town, not stopping at an inn, to find the postman. He was right in the center of town, logically enough.

"Letters for Erinn Taider?" Zelgadiss asked. The postman looked at him with suspicion, eyeing Zelgadiss' dark black cloak, but handed them over without a fight. Zelgadiss mumbled a "thank you" and left.

"Ohhhhh..." Ryuk said as it finally dawned on him. "I get it. Heh. You're... eh, I'll wait an' talk to ya later..." Ryuk said. He knew Zelgadiss wouldn't respond until he was certain there was absolutely no chance of anyone hearing.

Zelgadiss initiated the conversation once he was certain it was safe. "All right. You finally get it?" He lowered his hood and looked over at Ryuk.

"Yeah. You got those sorcerers to mail you information. Same thing that happened with that other guy--when you were gettin' the scryin' pool."

"Exactly," Zelgadiss replied, smiling. "Do you know what that information's about?"

"Uh... your cure?"

"Possibly," Zelgadiss nodded. He was starting to feel giddy. "I had each one of them send me a copy of all of their notes, along with a letter stating any ideas about who I could ask about my cure."

"Couldn't you have just, you know..." 

"What?" Zelgadiss asked.

"Tried asking for that?"

Zelgadiss snorted. "No one's going to share their life's work unless they're forced to. And if I'd tried asking, that would make me a suspect once I had to kill them. Besides..."

"Besides?"

"This way's faster."

"Ah. Heh hehehe."

Zelgadiss sat down on a stump and took out the letters. "Okay, let's see..." His hands were shaking. With some difficulty, he opened the first of four envelopes, and started skimming through the research. He frowned, and set the information aside. He opened the next one. His frown turned into a scowl. He went on to the next. "No..." he hissed. "No." Finally, number four. He skimmed through it, frantically, searching for something, anything... "Nothing," he gasped, then threw the envelopes to the ground. "Nothing! All that, and they had absolutely NOTHING to say! All they've done is _make_ chimeras. Sure, they were particularly good at it, but none of them had _any_ ideas on how to take them _apart!_"

"Kay..." Ryuk said.

"Gah! Flare arrow!" Zelgadiss burned the evidence. He watched as they burned, and the fire spread to the brush around him. "Hmph... Ext ball..." he muttered, and extinguished the fire. Better to leave as little a mess as possible. He sighed and put his head in his hands. "Absolutely nothing... Come on Ryuk, we've got a while before I have to pick up any more letters. Let's go back."

"Back where?" 

Zelgadiss ignored him. He picked up his stuff and headed home.

They returned to the cave one night about five days later. Zelgadiss hadn't been in any hurry this time, after all. No appointments to make. Yet, somehow, the journey back was more tedius than the journey there. Utterly uneventful, and Zelgadiss' shoulders were weighed down with failure. He'd killed the sorcerers he'd felt were most likely to have a clue to his cure first. If they didn't have any ideas, the chances of any sorcerer in Atlas City having a clue were slim to none.

They reached the cave, and it was just as they'd left it. Didn't seem like anyone had touched it. There weren't any tracks heading to the cave, no signs anyone had been near it. It was dark, but Zelgadiss' sharp eyes would have caught something. "Looks untouched..." Zelgadiss muttered.

He went in and set his stuff down by a bed. He sat down. Then he cast Lighting.

"Why, Zelgadiss-san!"

Zelgadiss fell to the floor in surprise, rolled, and was on his feet, ready to cast.

There was that infuriating priest, Xelloss, inches from where he'd just been sitting.

"What interesting company you're keeping!"

"What the hell do you want?!" Zelgadiss snarled at him.

"Oh, nothing, nothing..." Xelloss assured him. "Or not much, anyway." He walked over to Ryuk. "How nice to meet you, shinigami-san. And your name is?"

"Heh, it's Ryuk, mazoku. Nice ta meetcha."

"You can... see him?!" Zelgadiss' mouth dropped.

"Of course I can see him, Zelgadiss-san!" Xelloss chirped. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"Yeah..." Ryuk said. "I guess I left that out. Mazoku and things can see me--not dragons, though, they're too mortal. Didn't think it was important. Didn't really 'xpect that you were hangin' out with guys like this."

Zelgadiss frowned. "I see." His mind turned to the Death Note in his pouch. He wondered... would it work on a mazoku? He grinned. If it did, then... that would be one powerful book. A high-level mazoku, dead with one stroke of the pen.

"So, shinigami-san," Xelloss said, smiling, "Tell me. What are you doing with Zelgadiss-san?" His eyes flashed open a little.

"Eh, nothing, really," Ryuk replied, completely unfazed. "He picked up my Death Note, 's all. I'm just followin' him around." 

"I see," Xelloss said, smiling. "Then I suppose this doesn't count as a breach of contract--not yet, in any case."

"Nope," Ryuk shrugged. "Doesn't. I'm not killin' anyone. He's doin' it all himself! Heh heh heh."

"I see..." Xelloss turned to Zelgadiss, smiling pleasantly. "So, I suppose that means you have come into possession of a Death Note, is that correct?"

"It might be..." Zelgadiss replied, eyeing the priest, ready to strike at any moment.

"Well! I suppose that's all right then!" Xelloss grinned. "But what would _you_ want with a Death Note?"

Zelgadiss let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. So, there wasn't a problem then, good. Then he smirked. "I'd have to say, that's a secret, Xelloss."

Xelloss laughed a little. "I suppose I deserved that one. But I think I can guess, after seeing who you've killed so far. You're after your cure again, aren't you? Either that, or you've decided you hate sorcerers. I think it's the former, though."

Zelgadiss glared at him. "If you knew, then why did you bother asking?"

"It was more fun this way, of course," Xelloss explained. "Besides, I had suspicions, but no solid proof. Now I do."

Zelgadiss gave a frustrated sigh. "Are we done yet?" 

"No," Xelloss replied. "Not yet. There is this little matter of the contract..."

"Contract?" Zelgadiss blinked. Uh-oh. He'd mentioned that a moment ago, hadn't he?

"Yes," Xelloss nodded. "As a shinigami, Ryuk knows all about it. But you don't. And as a Death Note user, you are bound by it. Wait a moment. I will go procure it for you." With that, Xelloss disappeared.

Zelgadiss scowled. That was it. The last thing he wanted was the Mazoku telling him what to do. Especially Xelloss. "Forget this..." he muttered. He was going to have to try the Death Note. He ripped open his pack, took out the Death Note and a pen, and prepared himself.

This was it. He had to do it before Xelloss returned, which could be any second now. He took a deep breath. Was he sweating? Why? Because... if this worked, it made him the most powerful being in the world. Taking a deep breath, he wrote a single name: "Xelloss." No last name, as he had none. Now, forty seconds.

About ten seconds later, Xelloss appeared, eyes wide and staring at Zelgadiss. "Zelgadiss... how could you..." he looked crestfallen. He fell to his knees.

Zelgadiss' eyes widened. "It worked?" He grinned. "It worked! YES! Hah! Take that, you obnoxious, asanine, murderous bag of dirt." 

Ryuk must have been amused by this. He watched Xelloss as he crumpled, fallen, to the ground. "Hehehehehehehehe. Nice."

Zelgadiss kicked him, and the mazoku fell to the ground on his side. "That's for all that you've done to me, Xelloss. You shouldn't have crossed me!" 

"No... I can't... not like this..." Xelloss said, clutching his chest. His body started contorting. Zelgadiss had wondered what a heart attack would be for a Mazoku. Xelloss looked up at Zelgadiss, eyes pleading. "Why?" 

Zelgadiss snorted. Did he even have to ask? "Because, Xelloss. You stood in my way."

"Fine. There's nothing I can do anymore. I can only accept my fate. But... promise me this, Zelgadiss." 

"A promise? Not likely. What do you want?"

"Read the contract." With a trembling hand, Xelloss pulled a rolled-up parchment out of his cloak and set it on the floor in front of him. "If you don't follow it... you'll die."

"What?!" Zelgadiss burst out. Well, it would make sense. The contract probably wasn't with Xelloss anyway, but rather, the Mazoku race. Something he'd accidently signed into by using the Death Note in the beginning. "Dammit..." He bent over to pick up the contract off the floor.

With surprising speed for someone about to die, Xelloss seized Zelgadiss' head and yanked it towards him.

Ryuk's low laughter amplified, filling the room. "Hehehehehehehehehehe..."

Zelgadiss blinked in surprise at his sudden proximity to Xelloss' face. He tried to wriggle free, but Xelloss' iron grip was stronger than that of a rock golem's.

"One... kiss..." Xelloss met Zelgadiss' lips with his own. Zelgadiss' eyes widened. He'd been kissed before, a little, but not... well, like this. He closed his eyes, melting into it. What was the harm? Xelloss was dying, and this... was nice. He'd never realized he'dwanted something like _this._

Xelloss' lips were soft, warm and yielding. Zelgadiss relaxed. The kiss lasted...who knows how long, but it had to be longer than forty seconds. And Zelgadiss didn't want it to stop. He pressed into the kiss, and brought his hand around to the back of Xelloss' head, pulling him close.

It was Xelloss who pulled back and broke the kiss, eyes looking into Zelgadiss'.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Ryuk laughed harder. It was getting annoying... so innappropriate.

"I'm sorry. I...I didn't know..." Zelgadiss whispered. "I..."

Xelloss smiled a little. "Good...bye..." His body convulsed, and Zelgadiss' eyes didn't leave Xelloss'. But he didn't see any pain. He only saw... amusement. Probably at the irony of it all.

Xelloss' physical body stopped moving, and Zelgadiss stood up. Ryuk was still bubbling over with laughter. Zelgadiss watched Xelloss, waiting for his body to dissipate, as mazoku did when they were defeated.

It didn't.

Zelgadiss kept watching. He frowned. "Hey... wait..." Then Xelloss disappeared. Okay... "I guess that's it then," Zelgadiss sighed. He shook his head and turned his eyes to the contract Xelloss had handed him. But his brain was too bemuddled to process it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Okay, he'd killed Xelloss. It had felt pretty great, too, until Xelloss had gone out and kissed him. That had been a little freaky. That had felt good, too, but then the guilt that had come after it... that had been horrible. He felt guilty? He winced. Never mind. It was time to move on already. He took a deep breath and unrolled the contract. "Okay... let's see what this entails..."

And as he read, a grin started to grow across his face.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yes, yes, I know I just updated... but I couldn't leave it there for long! Especially not when I had this chapter written already, just waiting to be updated.

Future updates will probably be spaced out a little better. Probably.

Also, if anyone wants to beta, it would be much appreciated! Contact me if you're willing to do it.

Please R&R!

--

As Zelgadiss read, pure glee utterly erased the confusion Xelloss' kiss had brought to his mind. He skimmed it once, then re-read it, more carefully. Wording was the key to this contract, apparently. After all, most of the limitations had been made for _shinigami-_owned Death Notes.

"It has been hereby decreed that the entirety of the shinigami race will obey the following instructions. In return, the mazoku race will not destroy all the humans in Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo's world, to be referred to hereafter as 'this world,' until the entire world can be destroyed. In doing so, the mazoku race will enable the shinigami to continue to extend their lives with the lives of humans in this world.

"Article 1. Humans killed by the shinigami will be restricted to one per shinigami-owned Death Note every 20 years. This number may be increased only by the consent of three Demon Lords. Three Demon Lords may specify a time increment in which a certain number of humans may be killed by Death Notes, not to go below one per shinigami-owned Death Note every 20 years, unless it is deemed that the human race is nearly extinct, at which point three Demon Lords may call for a temporary halt on Death Note killings, not to exceed 20 years.

"Article 2. The mazoku race may name up to ten humans that may not be killed by a shinigami or a Death Note, to be attached as amendments. Any Demon Lord may add a name. The written consent of at least two Demon Lords are required to remove a name. The Shinigami King will be notified of any additions of names.

"Article 3. If any of the previous conditions are broken, the writer of the offending name will have his or her Death Note taken and will be prevented from writing any more names by locking the offender in an impenetrable prison without contact or interaction of any kind. Failure to comply with article 3 will result in the mazoku race destroying all the humans in this world.

"Amendments and Names of Humans Not to be Killed By Death Note

"Amendment 1. Lei Magnus (Authorized: Hellmaster Phibrizzo)

"Amendment 2. Garv, in any recognizable incarnation (Authorized: Hellmaster Phibrizzo) (name removed, Authorized: Hellmaster Phibrizzo, Beastmaster Zelas)

"Amendment 3. Rezo the Red Priest (Authorized: Beastmaster Zelas)

"Amendment 4. Lina Inverse (Authorized: Hellmaster Phibrizzo)

"Amendment 5. Zelgadiss Greywers (Authorized: Hellmaster Phibrizzo)

"Amendment 6. Amelia Wil Tesla Seiruun (Authorized: Hellmaster Phibrizzo)

"Amendment 7. Gourry Gabriev (Authorized: Hellmaster Phibrizzo)

"Signed,

"Hellmaster Phibrizzo

"Deep-Sea Dolphin

"Beastmaster Zelas

"Demon Dragon King Gaav

"Dynast Grausherra

"Shinigami King"

--

"Wow..." Zelgadiss gaped. "No way... this... is old, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Ryuk snorted. "Didn't think any of it would really apply to you, though. Guess it does. Huh. Probably just means you can't kill those guys."

Zelgadiss grinned. "It's better than that. Have you seen this list?"

"Sure, a little while ago... no one I knew."

Zelgadiss sauntered over to Ryuk and held it up to his face. "Look like Xelloss just saved my ass."

"Huh. Hey, you didn't add your own name just now, did you?" Ryuk asked, scratching his head.

"No. Does that look like my handwriting? Or my signature?"

"No, I guess not..." Ryuk said. "Huh. Well, how 'bout that. Guess that's my luck. Oh well! No skin off my back. I just can't kill ya. Hmph..."

"Hahahahahahaha. This is great. Great! Now not even the _shinigami_ can kill me! Hah! Thank you, Phibrizzo!" He wondered briefly if Phibrizzo's death meant he could be killed. Well, it didn't state that anywhere on the contract, so it was probably fine. "Never thought I'd say that. Guess he didn't want anyone messing with his plans... also means I can't kill Lina and the others, but I don't see how that would effect me! Hah!"

"Hmph." Ryuk looked slightly irritated, which was probably as angry as he'd ever get, Zelgadiss decided. "Well, I guess I'll just have to wait until you die, that's all..." he muttered.

"Hah! I am unstoppable," Zelgadiss laughed. "Xelloss is dead and you can't touch me. Hah. And if a human gets on my nerves, I can just write down their name. Wonderful..."

"Er... right," Ryuk muttered. "Sure. So... what's up next?"

Zelgadiss shrugged. "Nothing much. I've still got a week or so before I have to be in the next pick-up spot."

"And until then?"

"We wait," Zelgadiss shrugged. "That's all." He lay down on his bed. "I think I'm going to sleep."

"Really? How boring," Ryuk said. "I think I'll go fly around." And with that, he spread his wings and left.

--

Ryuk flew around a little, until he grew bored and landed on a tree branch. "Hmph." He was feeling annoyed. More annoyed than he had in a long time. Because, well, Xelloss had popped in and ruined all his plans. Probably better that way, though. If he hadn't known Zelgadiss' name was on the list, he probably would've killed him sooner or later. Then he would've been locked away without a Death Note, which meant death for a shinigami. He sighed.

"Aw, why the long face?" asked a voice. Next to Ryuk appeared Xelloss, the annoyance himself.

"You again," Ryuk said. "What?"

"Nothing, really. Just making sure that you saw the contract."

"Yeah, I did," Ryuk replied. "I get it. I can't kill him. What're the chances of a guy on the list picking up the Death Note? Oh well, I guess it can only make things more interesting."

"I suppose," Xelloss replied.

"So, when're ya gonna tell 'im you're alive?" Ryuk asked.

"Mmm... eventually," Xelloss shrugged. "It's not imperative that he knows that right now, and it's much more amusing if he thinks I'm dead. As long as he doesn't do anything crazy."

"Like what?" Ryuk asked.

"Such as running up to a demon lord and claiming he can kill her," Xelloss suggested. "Hopefully he won't try something like that."

"Hehehehehe. I guess. Hey, I got a question..."

"Yes?"

"Zel made the trade with me. That's all right, right? I don't think I can undo the trade..."

"He did?" Xelloss' eyes opened for a moment. Then he closed them again. "That's unfortunate. No, I don't see how that would be a problem. It would not count as killing him. He gave you his lifespan."

"Hm. Good," Ryuk muttered.

"If not, I'll be sure to ask for an exception," Xelloss added. "Since the damage is already done."

"Ah...er, yeah. Thanks, I guess," Ryuk shrugged.

"Oh, not for your sake, of course. If you were to be killed anyway for taking his lifespan, what would be stopping you from killing Zelgadiss before you were caught? For this reason, I will be sure that you will not be punished for taking his lifespan."

"Oh... right, I guess. You protectin' him then?" Ryuk asked.

Xelloss smirked. "I suppose I am."

"Why?"

The Mazoku winked. "That's a secret." He disappeared.

"Hmph." Ryuk was liking this Xelloss guy less and less.

--

Zelgadiss woke to find Ryuk missing. That was slightly interesting, Zelgadiss decided. More interesting was the fact that, last night, he hadn't had a dream about Xelloss.

That was promising.

But more importantly, it was time to check up on his project. He grabbed some bread from his pack for breakfast and walked over to the scrying pool. Finding everything in order (two deaths had occurred during the night, food poisoning, creating quite an uproar at the Sorcerer's Guild), he decided it was time to set out to town. He changed back into his regular, tan-colored clothing, and began the short trek.

He bought apples, some cheese and bread, other miscellany. It was around then that he realized that his money was growing scarce. He only had a few coins left. He scowled. How pitiful: the commander of the power of the Death Note barely had enough money to buy his meals.

"Well, this won't do..." he muttered. Maybe he should have fought a few bandits, he thought. Would have made him some money.

He thought this over as he wandered through town. Well, he could always rob a place, but that was the lowest of the low. Who resorted to petty thievery other than thieves? Sure, he'd done a little thieving in the past to achieve his objectives, but really. He shouldn't have to steal.

He sighed and walked over to the local job boards, in the town center. There wasn't much. It was a relatively small town, after all. "Damn..."

"Lookin' fer work?" asked a quiet, creaky voice.

Zelgadiss whipped around. He hadn't heard anyone behind him. But he hadn't needed to worry. There, in front of him, was a little, shriveled up old lady.

He frowned and relaxed. He shouldn't have let someone sneak up on him like that. "Yes, I am. What do you need?"

"A bodyguard," came the lady's quaking old voice. "Well, more like a bouncer. I've got a place in town, and my girls can't do their act if the men start getting rowdy. Interested?"

Zelgadiss frowned. "Their act? A strip bar?"

"No, no, it's much more classy than that," replied the lady. "I pay top dollar. It's easy work, for the right man. An' I don't think anybody's gonna go rousing up trouble when someone like _you_ is hangin' around."

Zelgadiss frowned. "I don't know... it sounds..."

"Sleazy?" She cackled. "Don't worry. It's not. Not really. Just try it for one night. It's over that way." She pointed. "Name's Quincy's Cabaret. I'm Quincy. Can't miss it." She winked. "If ya want a job, be there at 6 pm tonight for set up."

"Well..." Zelgadiss absentmindedly noted the name above her head. Her name wasn't Quincy at all. It was Emily Witherbottom. "Quincy" was probably her trade name.

"See you then!" She smiled, and Zelgadiss thought she heard her face crinkling as the smile spread across her face. With that, she hobbled off.

Zelgadiss shook his head. Would he really...? No, he didn't want anything to do with such demeaning things as stripping. He had way too much pride for that.

No, he thought. He wouldn't. He had no idea why he was even considering it.

He sighed and walked back to his cave.

--

The hours came and went, and Zelgadiss sat in front of the scrying pool, looking for sorcerers that might have a hint about Zelgadiss' cure. He found a few possibilities and wrote them down in his notebook, each with creative, individual ways of dying (one would be killed by a stray fireball; one would die from a heart attack after being crushed by his bookshelf; another would be bitten by a sick animal and die a few days later), so as to prevent anyone from finding any link between them. Not that Zelgadiss really had a reason to be this paranoid, not anymore. Not when he knew how much power this little notebook held. He grinned a little.

It was more of a game to him now, really. He had fun finding new ways to kill the sorcerers.

So, if it was a game, why not play around a little? His grin broadened.

Yeah... or better, why not save those girls that "worked" for Emily Witherbottom? He was pretty sure he'd heard of Quincy's Cabaret before. And it was anything but classy.

Maybe he could even make some money from it. That wasn't thievery, exactly, was it?

So Zelgadiss took out his notebook. "Emily Witherbottom," he wrote. "Without telling anyone, sells the Quincy Cabaret. Gives 80 of all her money to all the prostitutes that worked for her. Says that she is ready to retire and wants to give something back to her workers. Hides 20 under the biggest tree in the graveyard. Dies of old age in her sleep in ten days."

He set down his pen. "Perfect," he grinned. Sure, it felt a little dirty killing someone just for the hell of it, but it also felt very, very good. Liberating.

Maybe he should make a habit out of this. He could really start to clean things up. This world was dirty, after all. There were bandits everywhere. There were princes who fed on the lifeblood of those who served him. There was slavery, there was war, there was suffering.

And worse than all of that, there were mazoku.

Hold on-- that was it. The first step in accomplishing anything would be, of course, to kill all the mazoku. Or at least those in charge. It would be perfect! He didn't know why it hadn't occurred to him earlier. It had probably been the thrill of killing Xelloss. It had made him forget about the rest of the mazoku entirely.

So he'd kill them. Yes, it would be perfect! He could see no downside to this at all. He would bring peace to the world with the death of the Mazoku. It would herald a new age... a more peaceful one, one where no one had to live in fear of the Demon Lords.

Such a revolution required a moment of silence, Zelgadiss thought. A pause, to celebrate the coming of a new age. He dipped his quill in ink and prepared himself.

And he wrote:

Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo

Deep Sea Dolphin

Beastmaster Zelas

Dynast Grausherra

Sherra

Grau

He set down his pen. That was really all he knew, to tell the truth. But that was probably enough. Who else would dare face him when he had a book like the Death Note?

This was it. About forty seconds until the entire mazoku race was defeated.

That was when he remembered: Xelloss had known he'd written his name down, hadn't he? What if the others had a way of finding out, a way of knowing that the spell of the Death Note had been cast? Would they try to kill him?

Zelgadiss stood and prepared for a fight. His heart was pounding. Thirty seconds. Where were they?

He counted in his head. Twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven, twenty-six, twenty-five, twenty-four, twenty-three, twenty-two, twenty-one, twenty.

Nothing. Was he safe? Were they coming? Sweat poured down his face. Maybe he should go outside; he couldn't have a cave crashing down on him.

Cautiously, he walked outside. "Astral Vine!" he cast. Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten.

Nothing. No one. Wait, he sensed someone! Behind him!

He whirled around, sword ready. "Who?" No one! No one was there. It was just his mind playing tricks on him.

Seven, six, five... he was safe! He had to be!

Puff, on his ear. Air? Someone was there! He drew his sword and slashed!

Something caught his sword, as if he was hitting metal. But nothing was there. The Astral Vine spell dissipated.

"My, my, Zelgadiss-san. Aren't we high-strung?" There, in front of him, appeared Xelloss, sword caught in his hand.

"X-xelloss?!" Zelgadiss gaped. "What the...how?" Xelloss let go of Zelgadiss' sword, but Zelgadiss just stood there, dumbfounded.

Xelloss smirked. Then he grinned. Then he laughed. "Honestly, Zelgadiss-san, you didn't _really_ think that some book made to kill humans would work on a mazoku, did you?"

Zelgadiss just stood there, frozen, not believing his eyes. "You..." He'd kissed him. Xelloss had kissed him, using the excuse of being about to die. Fury, rage began to build up inside of him. "YOU!" he snarled. "You..."

"How articulate!" Xelloss remarked with a grin. "I what?"

"GRAAH!" Zelgadiss threw his arms up in the air, sword in his hands. "You manipulating ASSHOLE!" He brought the sword down on Xelloss' head. It bounced right off.

"GAAAH!" Zelgadiss sheathed his sword and went back into the cave. "GAAA!"

He could hear Xelloss laughing behind him.

--

A/N: You didn't _really_ think I'd make it so you could kill mazoku with a Death Note, did you? Or that I'd kill Xelloss off so quickly? Or that Xelloss would act that way when dying? So little faith!

Now you can see why I wanted to put this chapter up so fast... I was afraid of people flaming me for Xelloss' faked death. XD


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Zelgadiss sat down on his straw bed, head in hands. He had to clear his thoughts. What was going on? The Death Note-- it hadn't worked. It was still there, lying beside the scrying pool, pages open to the Demon Lords' names. Xelloss had tricked him, made him think that he could kill Mazoku, probably just for the fun of it.

Or for the excuse to kiss him. Zelgadiss shuddered. Why had he done that? Why had Zelgadiss...responded? Was he secretly harboring feelings for the pest? Zelgadiss scowled. All he'd ever felt towards the priest was hatred, but then, when he thought Xelloss was about to die, he'd shown weakness. He'd almost regretted his actions.

Maybe that was why the priest had done it. So Zelgadiss would regret his actions.

Well, whatever the reason, it had definitely been a part of some sort of plan on Xelloss' part.

At that point, said mazoku entered the small, dimly-lit cave. Despite the gloom, Zelgadiss could see, and practically feel, that grin on Xelloss' face. He bent over to pick up the discarded Death Note by the scrying pool. Zelgadiss tensed. Was he going to steal it? Well, not like he could do anything to stop him.

He glared at Xelloss as the mazoku moved closer, Zel's hand resting on his sword.

"And I thought you might be happy to see me alive!" Xelloss chirped. He reached out to Zelgadiss, Death Note in hand.

Zelgadiss took it. "You're not going to steal it?" he asked, studying Xelloss' expression. Not that studying Xelloss' face ever yielded any results. He had on that blank, smiling poker face, same as usual.

Xelloss laughed. "What use would I have for a Death Note?" he asked.

"Killing...people?" Zelgadiss suggested, but as he said it, he realized his folly.

"And why would I need a Death Note to kill humans?" Xelloss pointed out, finger in the air.

"Ah... right." Zelgadiss shook his head. "Well...to manipulate humans?" Then he ground out, "Not that you don't do that anyway." He remembered the damned kiss.

"It's much more fun to manipulate humans my way, don't you think?"

"Yeah... I guess." Zelgadiss shook his head. "Look, Xelloss, why—" Zelgadiss paused. What was he going to ask? How was he going to ask it? And how did he know Xelloss wasn't going to just write it off with his, "That's a secret" phrase?

"Why what?" Xelloss asked. His eyes became little purple slits, and his smile spread to his cheeks.

"Why... why did you..."

And right at the wrong moment, Ryuk flew in. Spotting Xelloss and Zelgadiss, he said, "Aw, what'd I miss?"

"Oh, not much, not much!" Xelloss assured the shinigami.

"Hnnn? Really?" Ryuk questioned. It was easy to sense the tension between the two of them.

"Really," Xelloss assured him. "Well, Zelgadiss-san attempted to use the Death Note on the mazoku race, and of course, it failed. So I'm afraid he's a bit upset now."

"Hah! I wish I'd seen it. Too bad. I miss all the interestin' stuff..." Ryuk said.

Zelgadiss huffed and stood up. "Look, I'm going to go take a bath. You two fight or whatever. I don't care." He put the Death Note in his pack and stood up, carrying the pack with him. Wouldn't be a good idea to leave it there, he decided.

"Oh! A bath? Mind if I join you?" Xelloss asked. Ryuk chuckled a little when Xelloss suggested that one.

"Yes, yes I do," Zelgadiss growled. "I do mind. A lot."

"What? A bath? Aw, come on, that's so _boring_!" Ryuk said. "Just watching you take a bath..."

"Why the hell would I let you watch me?!" Zelgadiss hissed. He turned away from him and started walking out of the cave.

"Not like you can stop me," Ryuk pointed out.

Xelloss cocked his head to the side. "Well, me neither, actually."

Zelgadiss turned and glared at Xelloss. "Don't _you_ have anything better to do?"

"Nope!" chirped the priest.

"Me neither," Ryuk added with a shrug.

Zelgadiss glared at the two of them, then walked out of the cave. He heard footsteps behind him. Probably Xelloss, and probably accompanied by a hovering Ryuk. He decided to ignore them, and walked down to the nearby pool, only a minute or so away. He ignored them the whole time.

But upon arriving, he turned around to glare at them. There were Ryuk and Xelloss, watching him, smiling their individual and annoyingly unique smiles.

Zelgadiss huffed. There really wasn't anything he could do about them right now. He'd just have to ignore them. He looked around for other people, decided the coast was clear, and started stripping. Belt, then tunic.

"Oooh, nice..." Xelloss commented when Zelgadiss took off his tunic.

That was it. "Shut up!" Zelgadiss growled.

"Eh... he's probably just tryin' ta get on yer nerves, ya know," Ryuk pointed out. "Mazoku are kinda crazy like that. Or so I hear. Haven't really met a lotta 'em."

"Really," Zelgadiss said. "You're not helping, you realize." He took off his pants and dropped them in the pile. Xelloss whistled.

Ryuk chuckled a little. "Yeah, I know. Heh. You two sure are amusing sometimes. Even if you can be pretty annoying, Xelloss."

"Why thank you," Xelloss smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Zelgadiss really didn't want to strip in front of Xelloss, but it didn't look like he had much of a choice, and it didn't look like Xelloss was going to go away anytime soon. Blushing bright red and turning away from his two onlookers, he slipped off his undergarments.

"Oooh, what a nice ass," Xelloss admired. Zelgadiss heard him quietly saunter forward behind him. He blushed brighter, but he wouldn't let himself turn around. He had to get clean. It had been far too long since he'd last taken a bath.

"Fireball," he cast, and threw it into the water, warming it up. Then he slipped in. "Ahh..." Nice and warm. The pool was nice and deep, too, and when sitting down and leaning against the bank, the water reached his neck. Like this, he was able to at least partially ignore his self-consciousness, since his body was hidden under the water. He closed his eyes, letting the warmth envelop him.

Then he heard Ryuk's quiet cackling behind him. He looked up to see Xelloss, nude and slipping into the water beside him. Zelgadiss turned bright red again. Well, more of a purplish, really. He found himself trying to catch a glimpse of Xelloss' nether regions, then shook his head fervently and looked away. "What the fuck are you doing?!" he said when he could find his voice.

"Taking a bath, of course," Xelloss said, sinking down up to his neck. He leaned back against the bank, purple hair pooling around him, floating on top of the water. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Hehehehe, looks ta me like you're tryin' ta get in Zel's pants," Ryuk observed. Zelgadiss looked up to see Ryuk's grinning, toothy, bug-eyed face staring down at them. Zelgadiss' breath caught in surprise.

"Well, if I were, I obviously couldn't, what with such an attentive chaperone!" Xelloss hinted.

"Ah... guess not..." Ryuk said absentmindedly. "All right, all right, I'll go away... but ya better fill me in on the details later!" he cackled, spread his wings, and went up into the air.

"Hey, wait! Hold on!" Zelgadiss cried. "Don't—you can't!"

" Hah!" Ryuk said. "What? You want me to protect ya? Why would I wanna do that, Zel? Hehehehehe." And with that, the shinigami was off.

"Well, that takes care of him! He can be quite the annoyance, can't he?" Xelloss said as Zelgadiss sank down into the water.

Zelgadiss gurgled in response.

"Aw, don't be like that!" Xelloss said, smiling. "Here, get back up here and I'll scrub your back."

Zelgadiss came back up out of the water. "Why would I want you to do that?" 

" Well, isn't that what people do when they take baths together?" Xelloss asked. "Although, technically, to observe proper onsen etiquette, we should have done that _before_ we got in the bath... but I suppose it doesn't really matter that much, now, does it?"

"Onsen... etiquette?" Zelgadiss blinked.

"Yes. Onsen etiquette. Just pretend we're in a regular hot spring at a hotel, Zelgadiss-san. Why should it be any different?"

"Oh... r-right..." Zelgadiss blushed. "I don't think..."

"Why not? Go ahead, Zelgadiss, kneel so I can reach your back," Xelloss said. "It's not like you'll be able to wash it that well on your own."

"I don't... no, Xelloss, I don't think that would be appropriate."

"Why not? Just like an onsen..."

Zelgadiss scowled. "Most people in an onsen haven't _kissed_, Xelloss."

"Ahh."

The two were quiet for a moment, as Zelgadiss built up the courage to ask the next question.

"Why did you do it, Xelloss?"

"Why did I do what?"

" Why did you..._kiss_ me?"

Xelloss grinned. "Well, that took long enough."

"_What_ did?" Zelgadiss growled. "You're avoiding the question."

" No, no, I'm not. It took you long enough to _ask_ it. Now, as for the answer..."

"Well?"

"I wanted to. Didn't you want me to?"

Zelgadiss swallowed. "I...uh..." God, his face had to be the deepest shade of purple by now...

"Well?" Xelloss whispered into Zelgadiss' ear. When had the priest gotten so close?! "Tell me, Zelgadiss. Do you want me?" Xelloss' hand touched Zelgadiss' shoulder, lightly.

Zelgadiss flinched, but he couldn't bring himself to move away. "I..." He was frozen. All he could think about was Xelloss' sudden proximity, and the heat building in his groin. He couldn't believe he was reacting like this to _Xelloss_, of all people.

"All you have to do is say 'yes,' Zelgadiss," Xelloss whispered into Zelgadiss' ear. Zelgadiss shivered despite the heat of the water around him. "You wanted it, didn't you? You wanted to kiss me."

"I... no," Zelgadiss said, shoving Xelloss away. He turned to look Xelloss firmly in the eyes. "No, Xelloss."

"No what?" Xelloss asked, grinning, meeting Zelgadiss' gaze with closed eyelids.

"No, I..." Zelgadiss swallowed, looking away. "I don't want you," he said, even though the pressure building in him told him otherwise.

"Hah!" Xelloss laughed. "I don't believe you." With that, he pushed Zelgadiss up against the bank. Zelgadiss' eyes widened as Xelloss grabbed Zelgadiss' lips in a kiss.

It was more forceful this time, and it was much less innocent. Xelloss' tongue pushed through Zelgadiss' lips to tangle with the chimera's tongue, massaging Zelgadiss into submission. Zelgadiss' eyes closed of their own accord as he felt himself being devoured by the sensation of Xelloss' tongue against his.

One of Xelloss' hands held Zelgadiss in place, while the other hand slipped behind Zelgadiss' head to pull him closer and play with his hair. Zelgadiss felt his hands moving to Xelloss' sleek, wet back, and he remembered with a jolt that they were naked.

Zelgadiss gasped and tried to push Xelloss away, but he found Xelloss' body unmovable. Zelgadiss was trapped. Fear pulsed through him, and he struggled to break the kiss, but failed. Xelloss' free hand moved down from Zelgadiss' head to his shoulder, then down his chest, which was still immersed in water. While Xelloss' tongue continued to play with Zelgadiss', who had found himself completely frozen in a mixture of fear and lust, Xelloss' hand moved to play with Zelgadiss' nipple.

Zelgadiss gasped at the sensation, even in the kiss, and his hands pulled back from Xelloss' chest. Finally, Xelloss broke the kiss, and Zelgadiss opened his eyes to see Xelloss' eyes purple and wide open. That sent another shiver of fear through Zelgadiss' body, as he realized now exactly how close he was to Death itself, and how much he truly desired this incarnation of Death.

Xelloss smirked a little. "You don't want me, hm. Really? Your body says otherwise." He glanced down at Zelgadiss' erection, then continued to play with Zelgadiss' nipple. Zelgadiss swallowed, and tried to hold himself back. He wanted to arch into Xelloss' touch.

"S-stop, Xelloss. Please," Zelgadiss managed to whisper. "Please."

Xelloss grinned. "Fine," he said. "I'll stop. For now." He pulled away, and sat down beside the chimera, leaving Zelgadiss gasping and swallowing, trying to regain his breath. He closed his eyes.

It was just too much. He looked over at Xelloss to see the mazoku smiling and watching him, eyes open and lustful.

Zelgadiss looked away and down at his body. He truly had reacted to Xelloss' ministrations, and he hadn't wanted him to stop, not really. But he couldn't do this, not with the sense of fear and utter helplessness. No, he couldn't let Xelloss do this, he couldn't let the mazoku take control of his body from him like that.

Zelgadiss growled, not meeting Xelloss' gaze. "Go away."

"Go away?" Xelloss chuckled. "Is that really what you want, Zelgadiss-san?"

"Yes!" Zelgadiss' voice was hoarse and raspy. "It is! Go away!" His eyes flashed dangerously at Xelloss, and he bared his teeth. "Get away from me, Xelloss."

"Hmn. If that's what you really want, Zelgadiss-san," Xelloss said. He gave him one last look, and then disappeared, leaving Zelgadiss alone in the bath.

"Gods..." Zelgadiss cursed, and he looked down at his reflection in the water. What the hell had that all been about?

--

Zelgadiss returned to the cave in a fury. He picked up the straw bedding left behind by the Yelmen and threw it around the room, but all it did was make a very unsatisfying mess. "Gah!" He threw his pack to the cave floor. He kicked the side of the scrying pool, a solid piece of rock made from the cave floor with sorcery, with his foot, and succeeded in making a dent in the rock. He also succeeded in hurting his foot. "Ah..." He hobbled backwards, and leaned against the side of the cave. "Damn it!" He slammed his fist against the rock wall. He glared at his pack. "What the fuck is the use of a book that can kill people if it can't kill that damned mazoku?!" He stomped over to it.

Then he realized something that stopped him in his tracks. "Wait..." he mumbled out loud, "Maybe I _can_ use it... I haven't tried it...against _dragons_..."

"Heh, looks like I did miss somethin' interestin'," came the voice. The voice of Ryuk, walking into the cave and blocking his sunlight.

"Get out of my sunlight, Ryuk," Zelgadiss grunted in response.

"Sure, sure," Ryuk replied, shrugging, as he walked over to the wall. He sat down on a little patch of straw that Zelgadiss had thrown. "So what'd he do? Rape ya? Violate ya?" He grinned.

Zelgadiss glared at the shinigami. "No," he hissed. "And I'm going to make sure he doesn't."

"Really? How're ya gonna do that?" Ryuk asked, scratching his head. "He's a pretty powerful one, I think..."

"He is," Zelgadiss replied. "Very. Doesn't mean he can't be killed... Ryuk, just to check, shinigami don't have any way to kill mazoku, do they?"

"Not at all," Ryuk shrugged. "Shinigami can use their hands to kill physical stuff, but mazoku aren't physical. Mazoku can't hurt us, either... 'cept by killing off all the humans, 'course."

"I see," Zelgadiss nodded. "I didn't think you could hurt him. Next question: Can the Death Note kill dragons?"

"Huh. Yeah, I think so," Ryuk nodded. "Believe it or not. None o' the gods or anythin', but I've heard o' shinigami usin' it to really increase their lifespan by killin' a dragon. They must be mortal 'nough."

"Really?" Zelgadiss lifted an eyebrow. "Then why are there dragons left?"

Ryuk shrugged. "Not a lotta shinigami really do experimentin' with the Death Notes. Pro'lly no one thought of it. On top o' that, shinigami really hate the mazoku for meddlin', and refuse to do anythin' ta help the mazoku. Killin' dragons would help mazoku. So... yeah. Oh, and a lotta shinigami don't want a thing ta do with this world, since they don't understand the rules."

"Oh," Zelgadiss responded. "I see... well then. Let's do this." He looked at the pool. "Show me the Temple of the Water Dragon King. Show me the library."

The water rippled, and showed him the library. Zelgadiss took from his pack three items: his Death Note, some parchment paper, and a pen. He began to scribble furiously, first in the Death Note, then, watching the pool, on the parchment paper.

Ryuk watched, then started to laugh his irritating, ever-present low chuckle. "Why didn't you just do that before?"

"Hurts my wrist," Zelgadiss mumbled. "This much writing...didn't think of it, either...other reasons, too. Shut up." After that, Ryuk couldn't get him to say anything else for a very, very long time.

--

DICTIONARY

Onsen: Japanese hot spring. At a Japanese public bath, you wash before you enter the hot spring, so as not to get the water dirty. And well, at least in anime, I've seen people washing each others' backs... I don't know if men do it or not, but I assume they do. I obviously haven't been in the men's baths, being a woman.

And no, no one's washed my back in an onsen, but then, the people I went with weren't all that good friends with me, and I sure as hell would've been pretty embarrassed.

--

A/N

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I wrote a bath scene. Yeah, it's a cheap plot device. What's your point? It's hot.

Zelgadiss: No means no! No means no!

Xelloss: Hah. When I'm concerned, "no" can very easily be turned into a very willing and eager "yes."

Zelgadiss: O.o; RAPE! : runs :


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A few days after he and Zelgadiss had parted ways, after completing a few other important, unrelated tasks that he had been neglecting, Xelloss returned to his task of watching Zelgadiss' progress. He used a very simple, yet useful scrying spell—if you could even call it a spell. It was really more of an action than a spell, like a human opening his eyes. All priests, generals, and their masters could do it, and a few lower-ranking mazoku could do it as well. After all, a mazoku's true form was on the astral plane, and in a way, the astral plane was everywhere at once.

With this in mind, it gave Xelloss quite a start when, for some reason, he discovered he couldn't see Zelgadiss at all. He couldn't see inside the cave. He guessed Zelgadiss was probably still inside there, but he couldn't sense his movements or anything. "Hmm..." he considered this for a moment while floating around on the astral plane, and after poking and prodding for a bit, he decided that Zelgadiss had cast a high-level ward spell. "How strange..." he vocalized. He was certain that, a few days previously, Zelgadiss had not been able to cast a ward spell like this. Few humans could. It wasn't that difficult a spell, really, but humans didn't have _access_ to this knowledge. It was holy magic, a branch of white magic, something humans had lost long ago.

"Which means..." Xelloss concluded, "Either he found a human that did know how to cast something like this, or he has found a way to infiltrate the dragons' libraries..." He didn't think that the Death Note could kill anything other than humans, which would have made it very difficult for Zelgadiss to find the knowledge of the dragons. But apparently he had found dragon-knowledge, forcing Xelloss to come to the conclusion that the Death Note could, possibly, kill dragons. "Perhaps this Death Note is more useful than I thought..." he vocalized. "But, on the other hand, it would probably be faster for me to kill dragons with magic, rather than waste time writing down all their names. Which I'd have to waste time finding, since a mazoku probably can't make the eye trade..." He ran all of this over in his head, and concluded that, quite possibly, with his current objective, it may have been better for him to have stolen the Death Note after all. Well, he hadn't known that the Death Note could kill dragons previously, and it was quite possible that Zelgadiss would never have forgiven him if he had stolen it. Regardless, he had made a decision, and it didn't look like he would get a chance at reversing that decision in the near future.

Xelloss continued watching the cave over the next week, taking short breaks to complete other missions, but Zelgadiss didn't set food outside his cave. Perhaps he had left the cave after all, Xelloss concluded, leaving the Death Note in the cave and warding it. But if that had been the case, would he have left the cave for such a long period of time?

"Well," Xelloss decided, after a total of about a week and a half had passed without movement, "I suppose it's time for me to check up on Zelgadiss after all. If he is there, he may require sustenance, after all." And with that, he left his post on the astral plane.

--

"Hello?" Xelloss appeared outside the cave entrance, a plate of food and jug of water in hand. A reflective warding spell covered the entrance, preventing Xelloss from seeing anything or just walking in. "Anybody home?"

Silence. Then, rushing through the shimmery spell that hid the entrance, came a shinigami. He eyed the plate of food. "Got any apples?" he asked. "I haven't had one in _weeks_. Zel ran out a while ago, and no matter what I do, he won't listen to me."

"Couldn't you just get your own apples...?" Xelloss suggested.

"I...uh...hm... well, that would look pretty suspicious, I think," Ryuk pointed out.

"Hm, I suppose it would," Xelloss replied. "Is Zelgadiss in there?"

"Yeah, but good luck gettin' him ta come out," Ryuk snorted. "He's holed himself up in there real good. Hasn't come out fer weeks. I didn't think a human could last that long without food. He does have some water left, though."

"I wonder... where does he dispose of his waste?" Xelloss asked, his curiosity peaked.

"Where does he pee and shit?" Ryuk clarified. "Deeper in the cave. Kinda startin' ta smell, though."

" I see." Xelloss frowned. "Well, go in there and tell him to let the ward down, or I will break it down. It's unhealthy for him to go this long without eating, even with the body he has."

" All right... _if_ you get me some apples first," Ryuk replied.

"Fine, fine. I'll be right back." He set the plate of food on the ground. It was a very simple matter for Xelloss to phase out, appear at some village on the other side of the world, buy a barrel of apples, and return a few minutes later.

Ryuk's face lit up. "All right!" Ryuk cackled, and charged towards the apples.

Xelloss disappeared and reappeared a few feet away, and took the apples with him. "Ah, ah, ah. Deliver the message, and _then_ you can have your apples." Xelloss lifted a finger and waved it in front of his face.

"Eh, sure..." Ryuk returned through the spell as if it wasn't there. Spells didn't affect shinigami, after all.

So, apples were this shinigami's weakness, were they? Strange... but he could use that to his advantage, considering that apples were incredibly easy for Xelloss to procure in large quantities, and slightly more difficult for Zelgadiss. He could probably use the shinigami against the chimera, if he needed to.

The shinigami came out a moment later. "He says he doesn't believe you can do it."

Xelloss smiled. "Hmm... Well, I suppose I'll just have to bring it down, then." He lifted his staff. "You can go ahead and have your apples."

"Yes!" And Ryuk pounced on them. But he was obviously very interested in what would happen next, as he watched Xelloss' staff carefully.

An energy bolt shot out of the staff, hitting the ward. It flickered a bit, but stayed up. Xelloss grinned. It was a very strong ward, but not strong enough, and obviously cast by someone who did not have that much holy magic aptitude. A few more energy bolts, and it was down, revealing a very surprised, unkempt Zelgadiss.

"My, my, what a mess!" Xelloss said, stepping inside the cave, food in hand. Scrolls and straw were littered everywhere, and the distinct scent of human feces and urine wafted its way up from the depths of the cave. "You look horrible!" Indeed, Zelgadiss looked like he was in horrible condition. His hair went every which-way, and it was obvious that he hadn't slept in a while. He looked very thin, too. Still, that angry, willful spark was still in his eyes. Zelgadiss probably could have lasted a few months without food, now that Xelloss realized it. He was standing up and ready for battle; obviously, the weeks in the cave hadn't done anything to hurt his battle-readiness.

Still, it was now undeniable to Xelloss that the Death Note had affected Zelgadiss very, very negatively, and Xelloss found that he really wasn't very happy about that.

Zelgadiss scowled. "What do you want?" asked his hoarse voice. He probably hadn't used it much recently.

"What a mess you've made, Zelgadiss-san! Tell me, have you eaten anything?"

"No...not that it's any of your business."

"I see." Xelloss sighed. "And with the village only a little ways away... You have fallen, Zelgadiss-san."

"I'm fine," Zelgadiss hissed at him. "I know my limits." He was eyeing the food Xelloss had brought.

"Ah, yes, here, here." Xelloss handed it over. "Eat up. Don't worry, it's not poisoned." Zelgadiss forced himself to eat it very slowly, and Xelloss had to admire the boy's self-control. "Now. What reason could you possibly have to hole yourself up in here for such a long period of time, without leaving even for food?"

Zelgadiss sipped on the water. He cleared his throat. "I didn't think it would take so long, and the ward was very difficult to cast," he explained. "Didn't want to have to take it down and recast it."

"I see," Xelloss said. "And what about picking up the letters you sent to yourself?"

"They can wait," Zelgadiss said.

Xelloss' eyebrows twitched with surprise. "Your cure can wait?"

Zelgadiss wrinkled his nose. "I had something more important to attend to."

"I see. Well, Zelgadiss, your perseverance astounds me. But I think you need to leave the cave and walk around a bit. Now, tell me, who were you warding against?"

"You," Zelgadiss stated simply, a smirk on his face.

"I thought as much. And what would you have done if I hadn't interrupted you, Zelgadiss-san? Would you still be here for months and months, until you wasted away?" Xelloss was aware his voice sounded very admonishing, much like one would talk to a child, but well, Zelgadiss had done quite a childish thing this time.

Ryuk came in at this point, having finished the apples, apparently. Xelloss and Zelgadiss glanced at him a moment, but then ignored him.

Zelgadiss shrugged in response to Xelloss' question. "I would've left the cave before I starved to death. The town is, as you said, just a little ways away." Zelgadiss had finished his food and water, and was already sounding like his regular, chipper self. Well, maybe not chipper. "And while I could put the ward up without too much difficulty, it wouldn't take very long for a mazoku to come in and steal all my work."

"True, true," Xelloss agreed. "Very well. I suppose you haven't gone that insane yet." Ryuk interjected with a chuckle at that comment.

Xelloss was starting to become a little concerned about something other than Zelgadiss' sanity. If Zelgadiss had been dabbling in the dragons' holy magic, and he was afraid of Xelloss coming in to stop him, then Zelgadiss was probably up to something Xelloss wouldn't want him doing.

"But... well, here you are, and I guess my plans are ruined, right?" Zelgadiss said.

Xelloss frowned. Zelgadiss seemed a little too happy about that.

Zelgadiss stood up, Death Note in hand. He'd finished the food Xelloss had brought him. "Thanks for the food, Xelloss." He dusted himself off.

"Of course," Xelloss said.

Zelgadiss gave a sly smile and began to cast something. Xelloss frowned. Was Zelgadiss planning on using dragon magic against him? Wait, no... he recognized that spell. Ryuk chuckled a little.

Xelloss wished Ryuk would stop. His laughter was becoming annoying, even to Xelloss. Didn't the shinigami do anything other than laugh?

"Flare Arrow," Zelgadiss cast, and lit the straw and scrolls around him on fire. He then stepped out of the cave, Death Note in hand.

Ryuk started cackling madly. "Hahaha, nice, Zel. Now he definitely can't find out what you were up to!" Zelgadiss smirked a little at that.

Xelloss watched the scrolls around him flare up like a pile of matches, the contents lost completely. Had Zelgadiss really wanted that badly to make sure Xelloss didn't know what he was doing? After pausing, he followed Zelgadiss out. "You do realize," Xelloss stated, "If you found that knowledge the way I suspect you did—by killing the dragons that knew it—that knowledge is now completely lost to the world, and you will not be able to access it again? Not that I care much about that, of course, since it's holy magic."

"I know," Zelgadiss nodded. "It is a shame." He watched the contents of the cave burn. Smoke came out of the small entrance in front, but probably not enough to catch the attention of any villagers. Looked a little like chimney smoke. "All right, I've got something I need to do. You coming or not?"

"Well, if you're going to go take a bath..." Xelloss grinned.

Ryuk chuckled. "I don't think you'll get him ta take a bath with ya ever again, not after last time."

"No," Zelgadiss scowled, responding to Xelloss and ignoring Ryuk. "I'm not." At that, he walked away. Xelloss and Ryuk followed in silence.

--

Zelgadiss' errand apparently had to do with digging in a graveyard, which greatly perplexed Xelloss, until he saw the reason for the errand. Up out of the ground came a box, a box full of gold coins. "Hahaha, it worked..." A devilish light lit up behind the chimera's eyes.

"What worked?" Xelloss asked.

"Oh," Ryuk put in, "Zelgadiss killed some old lady for her gold. Had her bury it here."

"Really!" Xelloss said. "I didn't think you'd stoop _that_ low, Zelgadiss-san!"

"No, not really," Zelgadiss scoffed. "I killed her to save the women who worked for her. She was a pimp."

"Ah. And the money was just a nice bonus?"

"Yes. The money was just a nice bonus," Zelgadiss replied. He then started walking towards town.

"You realize," Xelloss pointed out, "That you smell like feces and urine, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," Zelgadiss said, "But my gold shines like any other. They'll accept it."

--

After running errands in town, the three returned to the cave. It had stopped burning, and had started smoldering. "Ext ball," Zelgadiss cast a few times, then wrinkled his nose.

"Smells a bit worse than in here than it did before," Xelloss observed, "Doesn't it?"

"Shut up," Zelgadiss replied. He sighed. "Well, I suppose that's all right." He turned around and exited the cave, much to Xelloss' surprise.

"Don't you need that scrying pool?" Xelloss asked.

"Nah," Zelgadiss shrugged. "It would be good for me to change bases, anyway. Just in case."

"I doubt anyone has located you, Zelgadiss-san."

"I know. But just in case," Zelgadiss replied. Xelloss was starting to become seriously worried about the chimera. "And before that, I have quite a few letters I have to pick up."

"And what about your stench?" Xelloss asked.

"Hm... well, I'd like to take a bath, but I can't, thanks to you."

"Fine, fine," Xelloss sighed. "See you later, then." And at that, he left for the astral plane, more than a little concerned about the entire situation. Which was rare for him, and meant that something must be very, very wrong.

Had Zelgadiss learned enough holy magic to defeat him? Unlikely... but possible. He'd have to be very, very careful.

With that, Xelloss returned to watching Zelgadiss. And to his displeasure, he was so worried that he couldn't even pay attention to the fact that Zelgadiss was naked.

He must be very worried indeed.

A/N:

First chapter from Xelloss' POV! YAY! Why? Well, because Xelloss obviously isn't the antagonist anymore, now, is he? And other reasons...

Next chapter: Be prepared for DOOOM!

I'm gonna sing the doom song now! Doom doom da-doom doom


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hm... very... different chapter. Hope you guys like it anyways!

Chapter 7

"WHAT?!" Lina cried, mouth agape. "You're kidding. That's... that's just impossible! How could..."

Filia shook her head, taking a sip from her tea and placing it back on the tablecloth-covered tree stump. "It's true, I'm afraid. In the past two weeks, about eighty percent of the remaining ryuzoku race died. Ryuzoku live much, much longer than humans, Lina. Two weeks is the blink of an eye for us. And they all died of natural causes—something we usually only lose dragons to once every couple hundred years or so. The only explanation I can think of is that someone is killing them."

Lina crossed her arms. "That's crazy. Why would someone do that? How would someone do that?"

"Well, Xelloss—" Filia suggested.

"I don't think so." Lina shook her head. She sighed. It was starting to click. "Somethin's been bugging me, Filia. Starting a few weeks ago, members of the Sorcerer's Guild have started to drop dead."

Filia's eyes widened a moment. "Really? What killed them?"

"Natural causes," Lina shrugged. "Most of them. Experiments getting lose, food poisoning, disease... some of them died from miscasting spells—these are experienced sorcerers, Filia. They don't miscast spells. Almost every one of their deaths were different, but..." She shook her head. "Some previously-friendly sorcerers decided suddenly to test their new spells on each other. It just doesn't work."

Filia drew in a small gasp. "Then what... You could be next! I could be next! And we don't know how the murderer's doing it!"

"Exactly," Lina nodded. "Someone's killing high-level magic users, Filia. They're the only ones who've been affected. Maids, servants, apprentices... none of them have been touched."

Filia stared down at her tea. "What do you think this means?" she asked.

"I don't know," Lina shrugged. "Some people have reported strange behavior from sorcerers before they died... they'd seal themselves in their studies, writing long, ten page, sometimes hundred page documents. They tried to do it secretly, at night, but some of them were found out. When asked, they didn't seem to know why they were doing it. Just that they'd had to do it." She sighed. "Then they'd go back to their normal life, but before too long... they died."

Filia sipped her tea. "So... you've been looking into this already?"

Lina nodded. "Yeah. I had to. I mean, I am a member of the Sorcerer's Guild, Filia. Pretty much any sorcerer who's worth his salt is. So... I'm in danger." She swallowed. "Some people have even quit the guild, thinking that might stop it, but it didn't. Some have gone into hiding... to be discovered dead later."

"So... someone's been killing people, and we have no idea who he is or how he's doing it," Filia stated, frowning.

"Sorcery, probably," Lina shrugged. "But I've never heard of any spells like this. Completely untraceable, doesn't leave a mark, kills differently each time, and to some extent controls your actions before you die. Maybe a puppetry spell of some sort..."

"So what do we do?" Filia asked, her brow furrowed.

"We look into the victims. Again," Lina replied. "So far, I've only asked around a little. It's kind of common knowledge, really. So now, if a sorcerer starts writing some long tome, he's practically written off as a dead man."

Filia shook her head. "Okay. Has anyone found out what the victims write?"

"No," Lina shook her head. "They've all been pretty protective of what they've written, and then, they secretly dispose of it somehow."

Filia nodded. "I don't know much. The messenger dragons only contacted me briefly to let me know of the danger, then continued looking for others of our race. They didn't give me much information, just that someone was killing off the dragons, and to be careful."

"All right. I think it's safe to say it's the same killer. Dragons pretty much all know high-level magic, right?"

"Mostly. But less than eighty percent, I think."

"Hm... well, it's possible that the killer was afraid of the dragons finding out he was killing them."

Filia nodded. "Possible. Dragons are probably more of a threat to him than humans..."

"Especially if he'd already killed off all the human sorcerers," Lina pointed out. "_If_ that's true, then he's afraid of something. Means he's not indestructible. Could be what he's been trying to do from the beginning, too: kill everyone who poses a threat. Though that wouldn't explain why everyone writes something before they die."

"If that's true, then..."

"Why am I still alive?" Lina finished. She shrugged. "I don't know."

"All right. I suppose the first thing to do would be to find out everything we can about the victims. The victims we know about, anyway," Filia offered.

Lina nodded. "Yeah." She stood up off the rock she was sitting on. "Let's go through them one by one, from the beginning. Let's head to Atlas City. They should have kept pretty good records about the dead sorcerers there."

"Agreed," Filia responded. "We don't know how much time we have. As much as I'd prefer not to... I'll fly you there."

"Thanks," Lina smiled. "'Preciate it."

They cleaned up and headed out.

--

Knock, knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

"GRRAH!" A few hours later, a very angry Lina (accompanied by a slightly embarrassed-looking Filia) was pounding on the front door of the sorcerer's guild. "LET ME IN!" she bellowed. "I know someone's in there!"

"No!" came a voice from inside. "No entry!"

"Why the hell not?!" Lina waved her arms frantically in the air. "I'm trying to save the world, here!"

"No entry until the murderer has been apprehended!" said the voice from inside. "Period!"

"Grrrr..." Lina fumed. "If you don't open this door, I'll BREAK it down!"

"My lady," huffed the voice, sounding very amused and haughty, "This is the _very_ well warded door of the Sorcerer's Guild. Do you think a simple third-rate sorceress could break it down so easily?"

"THIRD-RATE?!" Lina growled. "Do you even know who I am?!"

A small peephole opened in the door, revealing a single eye. This eye widened, whites showing in fear. The peephole slammed shut. "Uh, ah, right away, Miss Inverse, one moment please..."

"That's _better_," Lina growled. There were some clicking noises inside, and then the door creaked open a bit. "_Finally_." She kicked the door the rest of the way in. A crunching noise could be heard coming from behind the door.

"Ow..." whined the doorman as the fearsome Lina Inverse stormed past.

"Oh, dear..." Filia sighed. She could just catch up with Lina later, she decided, and closed the door. "I'll heal that for you..."

The pudgy little doorman smiled. "Thank you, nice, pretty lady..." he mumbled before passing out.

--

"All right!" Lina headed straight for the records room. She'd been here plenty of times, and knew exactly where it was. Turn here, turn there, keep going down the hallway... The few sorcerers that were left in the guild took note of her passing, and carefully steered clear.

But when she reached the doors and paused, she heard a voice. "_She's_ still alive?" it gasped.

"But she's the most powerful sorcerer of them all! Why was she spared?"

"Maybe..." commented a hushed voice. "Maybe _she's _the murderer!"

Lina turned on her heels. "Who said that?!" she growled, fangs bared, preparing a fireball in her hands.

The crowd that had gathered quickly dissipated as the third- (tenth?) rate sorcerers scampered away, tails between their legs.

Lina smirked a little. "All right, let's do this!" she threw open the door to the records. It wasn't hard to find the book she was looking for; it was sitting right in front of her, on the desk. "Sorcerer Guild Deaths," it said, and the year. It was open to the most recent page. Someone had probably been working hard to keep it updated...until they died, probably. Most record-keepers and other officers in the guild were also high-ranked sorcerers.

Lina sat down and cracked her knuckles, absently wondering where Filia had gotten to. Oh well, she'd catch up eventually, she decided, and flipped back to the beginning of the book.

--

Meanwhile, Filia was trying very, very hard to get through the masses of questioning people pressing her against the door.

"Who're you?" asked one man.

"Where's your guild membership?"

"What are you doing here?"

"How do we know you're not the killer?!"

"How did you get in here?!"

"I...I..." Filia swallowed.

"Well? Who are you!"

"I'm... I'm..." She took a deep breath. "I'm Filia Ul Copt. I do not have a guild membership, but I'm here with someone from the guild."

Someone asked in a very quiet, threatening voice, "Who?"

"Eh heh...um..." Filia looked embarrassed. "Lina Inverse?"

Silence. Then, "Seize her!"

"GAH! Stay AWAY!" In a flash, she'd drawn out her mace and plowed through the first line of sorcerers.

"AHH!" They fell like dominoes.

"Oh dear..." Filia sighed. "What a mess..." She shook her head. "Look, if you'd just let me through..."

"Now!" cried a voice. "Get her!"

"Flare--"

"No!" Filia cried, wielding her mace again. Down went another third of the sorcerers.

"Ahh!" The remaining third rate sorcerers ran away.

"Phew," Filia said, wiping her brow. Then she saw everyone around her. "Uh... oops."

"That's all right!" the doorman said. "You can just heal 'em all up again, right?"

Filia let out a resigned sigh, and set to work.

--

Deep in the depths of the sorcerer's guild, the third-rate sorcerer's screams couldn't reach Lina. They'd probably have fallen on deaf ears, anyway, as Lina was starting to see a very glaring pattern in the sorcerer deaths, starting with the first ones.

Chimeras. The first sorcerers had been working on _chimeras_. The murderer had started with the sorcerers working on chimera research, and spanned out from there, to people who only had a passing interest in chimeras, and finally, just the most powerful guys out there.

"No way..." Lina swallowed. "No... it can't be." She shook her head. She was probably jumping to conclusions. After all, there were plenty of people who would want the kind of secret information these sorcerers had.

But she couldn't deny the possibility, and she couldn't deny her gut feeling.

And worse, it would explain why no one she'd grown particularly close to had been effected, despite the fact that Sylphiel and Amelia were fairly good sorceresses—and Filia was a _dragon priestess. _Following the pattern, Filia should be dead by now.

And well, Lina was the most powerful of them all. She should be dead, too.

She shook her head. She had to find him, but that would be almost impossible. So, instead, she'd find that piece of definitive proof.

She searched through the book once more, carefully, looking for something, anything, any clue that could lead her to where she could find that piece of proof. Towards the end of the records, everything had become much more detailed, as the record-keepers realized exactly what kind of power they were up against. And there, towards the end, was her clue. A note, dated about a week ago:

--

Mary, my faithful wife, has noticed my odd behavior. I myself did not realize that what I was doing was strange, despite my having studied the victims of the mass murderer. The power of this strange spell is indeed strong. Yet, now that someone has pointed out to me how odd my actions are, I am able to notice. But I cannot stop myself, nor can I conceive why I possibly thought to act the way I did. I even attempted to tell someone where I had sent that strange letter, but I couldn't. I attempted to write it, and I couldn't.

However, when I sneaked out of the house to send the letter without Mary noticing, I managed to ask the postman to copy the name and address for me. He was very confused why I, the scholar that I was, could not copy the name and address myself, but in the end, I managed to convince him to do it. I have hidden this name and address—I can't help but be secretive about this, and I don't know why. This concerns me, even more than the fact that I know I am not long for this world.

I have hidden his name and address. It is hidden in the place that fuels our magic, for as powerful as we are, even the most powerful of sorcerers would not be able to survive without the contents of this place.

--

Lina frowned. Well, the place that fuels magic... that was easy enough. Fuel. Food was fuel, and it was true, sorcerers needed food to be able to cast. The place that contained that food would be the attached restaurant/cafeteria and larder.

"All right, a clue!" Lina cheered. She threw the doors of the record room open, and quickly found the attached restaurant (which was, sadly, deserted). "A clue after my own heart, too!" Lina cheered. She looked around. Her stomach growled. "All right... first things first! If I'm going to find a clue hidden in here, then I'd better clean up!" She headed for the larder.

In it was cheese, bread, rice, anything she wanted. So she started to eat.

And she ate.

And ate.

And ate.

About an hour later, she'd managed to get to the bottom of the piles and piles of food. And there, on the floor, on a huge piece of parchment. "Huh. You know, I don't think I had to eat anything to find this after all! Oh well!" She patted her stomach, then looked over the name and address of the murderer:

Leahat Delard

Eldor, Kalmaart.

"All right, Leahat, if that's your real name—which I doubt it is—here I come."

At that, she sped down the hallway to the door. There was Filia, in a pile of bodies, healing them or something. They looked like they'd really been damaged by something.

"Come on, Filia," Lina said, "Quit playing around." stepping over them and walking to the door. "We've got work to do."

"But... all right...Did you find something?" Filia asked, rushing after her.

"Less talk, more flying," Lina said when she was outside.

"But, there're people everywhere..." Filia said, but when she saw the serious look in Lina's eyes, she nodded and obliged, and they took off.

Filia's stomach growled. She wished she'd had time for lunch.

--

A/N: Someone's killing off all the powerful people!! Do you realize what that means?  
GASP! ALIENS ARE PREPARING THE WORLD FOR INVASION! EEEEE! RUN FOR THE HILLS!

... sorry, had to. XD

Not even sure where that one came from... O.o

Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N:

Thanks for all the reviews! And please continue to do it. It feeds my ego, and my ego is constantly hungry. And I write more when it's fed and not whining in its cage.

Also, see my lj for slayers revolution summaries! XD If you want any particular scene translated, tell me so. But I'm too lazy to translate the whole thing.

--

This chapter makes up for the inexplicable cheeriness of the last chapter.

You have been warned.

--

Chapter 8

Zelgadiss slammed his fist against the tree. His recently-acquired warhorse, which was tied up to a tree nearby, started at Zelgadiss' sudden movement. Ryuk was standing next to him, making faces or something, and was probably amused that the horse couldn't see him. Zelgadiss ignored them both. After two weeks, he had picked up almost all of the packages he'd had sorcerers send him. The business with Xelloss had set him back a bit, so he'd bought the horse to try and make up for time. It had, and what would have taken months had slimmed down to just weeks.

But for all his effort, for all his rushing around, he'd come up with nothing. "Nothing!" Zelgadiss exclaimed, throwing the paper on the ground. "All of that... for nothing!" He sat down on the ground a few feet away and tried to regain his cool. He closed his eyes, then opened them again to glare at the offending letters. "Fireball," he cast, and threw it at them. The area exploded in flame. Overkill, sure, but it made him feel a little better. He smirked.

The horse was having a fit, though. It whinnied a couple times, desperately trying to pull away from the tree and the flames licking its hooves. "Hmph," he snorted. "I only have a few letters left... I don't need you anymore, horse. Sorry." And at that, he turned away towards the nearby village. Eldor. One of the last pick-up points. Not that he expected to find anything there, either. He started walking down the path.

"Hahahaha. That's pretty heartless, Zel," Ryuk said, coming up behind him. "What did that horse ever do to you?"

Said horse whinnied again in pain, and Zelgadiss thought it sounded a little like a scream. Then the halter snapped, and the horse, free, galloped down the path as fast as its legs could carry it.

Zelgadiss shrugged, watching it disappear into the distance. "I guess I felt it deserved it."

"Yeah? Why?"

"Who cares? What do you care, Ryuk?"

"Don't, really," Ryuk shrugged, floating behind him. "So... all that effort, and ya failed. What're ya gonna do now?" 

Zelgadiss was quiet.

"Come on... ya gotta do somethin' more interestin'. This travelin' is startin' ta really bore me."

"What would you rather I do?"

"I dunno... Take over the world?" 

"Why would I do that?"

"I dunno... Fun, I guess... Well, how about you try to kill all the evildoers?"

"Tried that. The mazoku lived."

"Oh, yeah," Ryuk sniggered. "Wish I'd seen that. Heh. From now on, I'm not leavin' yer side at all, Zelgadiss. Even if yer bein' boring."

"Greeeat." Zelgadiss was just thrilled by that idea. Oh well, he'd more or less become used to the shinigami's constant presence. And then, they were within hearing range of the town, so Zelgadiss was quiet.

"Ah, we're here... I wonder... hmn?" Ryuk looked around, seeming to sense something.

Zelgadiss looked up. "What?" he whispered. They were right at the edge of the town now.

Xelloss appeared a few feet back. "Zelgadiss-san! How have you been?"

Zelgadiss groaned. "Great, until you showed up." He hit his head with his hand. This was _not_ what he needed right now.

Ryuk laughed. "I wouldn't say that! You were about ta cry yer eyes out a moment ago."

"That's not true," Zelgadiss snarled. "And you know it."

Xelloss laughed. "Somehow, I can't picture Zelgadiss-san about to cry his eyes out at all."

"That's because I wouldn't," Zelgadiss replied, and started walking into town.

"Ah... before you go in there, Zelgadiss-san... I think..." Xelloss started.

"Think _what_, Xelloss?"

"Oh, fine, fine, forget it. It's nothing, never mind...See you later." And at that, Xelloss disappeared.

Zelgadiss lifted his eyebrow. That was never a good sign. On the other hand, maybe he was trying to prevent him from going into town for some reason. Except... he should have known that wasn't enough to stop him from going into town. "Hm..." He turned around and went back up the hill to where he'd abandoned the horse—which was, by this time, nowhere to be found.

"Whatcha doin'?" Ryuk asked.

"Something's up," Zelgadiss said. "Something about that town. So I think I should be ready." He eyed the fire that the Fireball had left. "Ext ball," he cast. If something was happening, then he had to be careful.

"Really? Well, all right, if you say so," Ryuk shrugged.

"I do." Zelgadiss took out the Death Note. "Tell me, Ryuk... does a page from this Death Note work if I tear it out?" 

"Sure does," Ryuk replied. "As long as the cover stays intact."

"All right," Zelgadiss said. At that, he ripped a half a page out of the Death Note and put it in the pocket of his black, concealing outfit. In the other pocket, he put his quill. The rest of his Death Note went straight back into his pack. "Let's go." He started back down the hill.

--

The small town didn't have a wall or anything protecting it; this area of Kalmaart was relatively safe. He looked up at the sky. He could wait until dark, if he wanted to, but he doubted there was really that much danger, and he was feeling impatient. Now, he wanted to get in and out of the town as fast as possible. So he slipped into the town, walking through the shadows as much as possible. He was fairly good at sneaking around; after all, it was another skill that had come in very handy while working with Rezo.

Soon he'd located the post office. Now, he had two options: sneak in and steal the letter or go straight up to the postman and ask for it. He didn't actually know anything was wrong, and if he was caught trying to steal the letter, it might cause an unnecessary raucous. Might as well just go straight in, he decided. He kept his hands in his pockets, ready to take out the pen and paper.

"Postman..." he whispered at the window.

"Yeah?" came a voice. A high-pitched, girly voice. Huh?

Peering out from beneath the hood of his concealing black outfit, Zelgadiss saw a very familiar face walking up to the window. "Who is it?"

"L-_Lina_?" he breathed.

There she was. She was disguised, of course, wearing a postman's uniform, but there was no mistaking it. There, in front of him, was Lina Inverse, whom he hadn't seen in who knows how long.

Lina lifted an eyebrow. "Who wants to know?" she asked.

Zelgadiss frowned beneath his cloak. He could either tell her, and trust her, or he could run away now. What would happen if Lina knew what was going on? She'd be furious. More than furious.

But if he ran away, and Lina figured out who he was, then... that would only make things worse.

And on top of that, it was _Lina._ He hadn't seen her in ages. He smiled and lowered the hood. "Hey, Lina. Been a while."

"Zel!" Lina's face lit up, but Zelgadiss thought he sensed a sadness behind her eyes. And for some reason, she didn't seem all that surprised. "What're you doing here, Zel?"

"Ah... nothing... picking up letters for a friend of mine, that's all."

"Really?" Lina asked. "Who? I can get them for you."

"Hold on. Lina, what are you doing disguised as a postman?" Zelgadiss put his hands on his hips, out of his pockets, and asked her seriously.

"Wait... that's Lina Inverse, ain't it?" Ryuk asked. "The one in the contract?" His comment, however, went ignored.

"Well, ya know... some job, that's it. I'm supposed to protect the mail from some guy they think is gonna come steal it."

"Really?" Zelgadiss asked. "Who would want to steal the mail?" Now he was kind of glad that he hadn't tried to sneak in and steal the letter. He'd probably have failed.

Lina shrugged. "Some sorcerer I guess."

"Huh." Well, all right... she might be telling the truth, Zelgadiss decided. "So, where's Gourry?"

"Eh, we parted ways a while ago," Lina shrugged.

"Really? That's too bad." Zelgadiss kind of wished he'd checked on them through the scrying pool.

"Yeah. He went ahead and married Sylphiel, settled down. Turns out, the reason he left home in the first place was because he had the Sword of Light. Now that he doesn't have it, he can settle down, I guess."

"Huh. He didn't really strike me as the type..."

"Anyway," Lina said, "How about we go have some lunch and catch up? Filia's in town here, too."

"What about your post?" Zelgadiss asked.

"It'll be fine, I'm sure," Lina said, smiling sweetly. "What about your mail?"

"It can wait," Zelgadiss shrugged.

Ryuk laughed. "This ain't suspicious at all!" he sniggered.

--

Filia, apparently, was waitressing tables at a nearby restaurant. This surprised Zelgadiss a bit, but he just shrugged it off. At least it meant they could get a discount at that restaurant. Lina had probably forced Filia into it with that in mind.

It was just a restaurant. Nothing about the restaurant itself struck Zelgadiss as odd. Lina led him inside, and there was Filia, waiting tables.

"Hey, Filia!" Lina called. "Guess who's here!"

"What? Oh!" Filia said, looking up from the table. She smiled, but somehow, she didn't look very pleased. "Zelgadiss! Hello! How are you?"

"Fine."

"Good. Just a moment, I'll be right back..." Filia rushed into the kitchen, then came back out, not wearing her apron anymore. "He said it's fine. He'll cover for me for the next hour or so.

"Okay, great," Lina said. She sat down at a table.

"Soo..." Filia began.

"Yeah..." Zelgadiss replied.

"Havin' trouble speakin', Zel?" Ryuk commented.

"So... what have you been up to, Zelgadiss?" Filia asked.

"Not much..." Zelgadiss shrugged. "Looking for my cure, as usual." Absently, Zelgadiss noted Filia's name above her head. Filia Ul Copt. Wait, why did he care? He probably wouldn't need it, right? And he already knew it, anyway. "And you guys? What're you up to?"

"Eh, wandering around, mostly," Lina shrugged. "Not a heck of a lot of stuff to do anymore." She paused, as if turning something over in her head. Then she looked Zelgadiss in the eye. "But mostly... I've been trying to figure out how to save my ass," she said in a low voice.

Zelgadiss started. "Save your ass? From what?"

"Oh, come on, Zel. You might've been wandering around in a desert or living in a cave or whatever, but you gotta have heard."

Zelgadiss considered that statement for a moment. If he hadn't been the one doing it, no, he wouldn't have known about it. He barely came in contact with people at all. "Uhh... no... I don't think so."

Lina looked over at Filia, who looked away. "You haven't noticed anything odd recently?"

"Well..." Zelgadiss pondered. "Not really. I don't really keep in touch with things all that much, to tell you the truth. I've been... well, living in a cave, actually..." He looked a little embarrassed.

"You _have_?!" Lina exclaimed. "What the hell have you been doing in a cave?"

"N-not much," Zelgadiss shrugged. "I was looking for clues to my cure!"

"In a _cave?!_"

"Well... I kinda... found a scrying pool..." Zelgadiss admitted. Sure, that sounded reasonable.

"Oh...ohhhh." A light seemed to dawn on Lina. "I get it. So you were scrying for your cure?"

"Yeah," Zelgadiss shrugged. "Didn't come up with anything, though. I've been doing that for the past few months. Before that, I was traveling around in search of my cure, but I didn't find anything."

"Oh... right," Lina shrugged. "I guess that makes sense then... though it's kind of convenient..." she muttered.

"Convenient?" Zelgadiss' eyes widened. No way. Surely she wasn't... well, she had been waiting for something at postmaster's, and she had been more than eager to leave her post when he'd appeared... but really... why would Lina have any idea what was going on? He'd taken every precaution, chosen his words in the Death Note very, very carefully, and made sure that all the sorcerers did everything as secretively as possible.

Ryuk snickered a little. He seemed to be having the time of his life.

"Never mind," Lina sighed. She looked Zelgadiss in the eye. "I better tell you, then, because you're in danger too, Zel. Though I guess you're not too famous or anything... not really..."

"Okay..." Zelgadiss waited.

"Someone's been killing off all the most powerful sorcerers," Lina stated evenly. "They started at the Atlas City Sorcerer's Guild, then branched out, then, well, cleaned up the Sorcerer's Guild, but left every third-rate sorcerer living."

Zelgadiss' eyes widened. Well, he should've expected Lina would know all about this, really. He had to pretend he knew nothing. What would he say if he didn't know anything? "Who would... _how_ would someone do that?"

"Heh. That's kinda what I said," Lina replied. "But it gets worse." She looked over at Filia, who had been watching Zelgadiss quietly.

"Most of the dragons are dead," Filia added. "Not just the priests and priestesses, but almost everyone."

Right. Zelgadiss had decided that, well, if he was going to kill a few dragons, he'd better kill most of them, just in case they'd wizen up to what he was doing. But he had to play the part. He gaped. "_What_? What happened? Did they just... drop dead, or what?"

"Kind of," Lina shrugged. "They all died of seemingly natural causes. Well, mostly. But all the deaths _seem _to be unrelated, except that..."

"Except that?" Zelgadiss prompted.

"Well... they all died so suddenly, all at once, and not from a disease. Doesn't that seem suspicious?" Lina asked.

Hmm... maybe he should have just created a disease or something, Zelgadiss thought to himself. Oh well, too late now. "Yeah," he nodded.

"And what's stranger... something or someone seems to be controlling their actions before they die."

That one genuinely caught Zelgadiss by surprise. How the hell did she know that? He'd been so careful... "What?!"

Lina nodded. "It's true! Some of them have been caught writing strange messages. What they do with the messages, no one knows."

"Really..." Zelgadiss contemplated this. He couldn't have imagined that Lina knew _this much_, but if she really didn't know what happened to the messages, then that was a good thing. But if she didn't know, then why was she here? How much did she know, then? "No one's figured out what happens to the messages once they've been written? Or what they say?"

Lina shook her head. "No," she replied. "You seem interested in that."

"Well, obviously. It would be an important clue in figuring out what's going on."

Lina smirked. "True. Now... the other question is, why have I, one of the most obvious people to fit the profile, not been killed?"

"Or me," Zelgadiss pointed out. "Although, as you said, I'm not that famous."

"Famous 'nough," Lina snorted. "I mean, you've been seen with Amelia _and_ me."

"True," Zelgadiss nodded. "What about Amelia? Is she all right?"

"Far as I know," Lina said. "I think Seyruun would be making a little bit of a fuss if she turned up dead."

"Right."

"And Filia, too," Lina said, looking over at the not-too-happy-looking dragon. "She fits the profile of dragon priestess, yet she's alive as well."

Filia... Zelgadiss hadn't even considered killing Filia. He'd figured she'd probably have told him if she had any information on his cure at all. And on top of that, the idea of killing someone he knew kind of...

That twinge. He hadn't felt it in a while, but there it was again. It was the guilt, the moral compass he'd developed while spending time with Lina and the others. He shook his head. He didn't have time for something silly like morals, not at a time like this.

"Zel?" Lina interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"What are you thinking about?"

Zelgadiss shook his head. "Never mind." 

Lina smiled. "That's more like you. All right. So... that's generally the problem. And to be honest, I'm kind of afraid that it's just a matter of time until they get me, you, Filia, Amelia, and Sylphiel."

"Right... well... what do you want to try and do about it?"

"As if you had to ask!" Lina laughed. "We're gonna find the guy who's responsible for this and stop him!"

"Oh... of course." Zelgadiss rolled his eyes. "And how are we going to do that? If that's all the clues you've got..."

"Mostly," Lina nodded. "Well, what would you do?" she asked him.

"Well... I guess I'd go over the facts. We don't know anything about the victims, other than the fact that they were all sorcerers who wrote something before they died?" Zelgadiss asked.

"Well, kinda..."

"So... what're you doing here?" Zelgadiss pressed. "I mean, you're trying to figure out what's been happening to the sorcerers, right? Since you think you're in danger? So what are you doing here?"

Lina was silent for a moment. Yes, Zelgadiss thought. She was on his trail, somehow. Even though he'd tried his best not to leave one.

"Hiding out," Filia supplied. "We've been hiding out here. That's all."

"Really?" Zelgadiss asked. "Has that helped other sorcerers?"

Lina sighed. "No," she said, shaking her head. "All right, Zel, ya got me. I know more." She looked at Zelgadiss evenly. "But if I tell ya, you gotta keep it a secret, you hear me? If the murderer finds out I know this, I'm dead."

Zelgadiss nodded. "I understand," he said. But what Lina didn't know was that, well, he couldn't kill her. Not with the Death Note, anyway. And besides, he didn't exactly want to kill her in the first place.

Lina took a piece of paper out of her pocket. She glanced around, but the restaurant was mostly empty. Confident in her secrecy, she placed the paper on the table, covering it with her hand. She watched Zelgadiss' face as she removed it in one quick motion.

Leahat Delard

Eldor, Kalmaart

Zelgadiss' mouth dropped in shock. How... how could she have found this information? He'd taken _every_ precaution! Then he looked up and saw Lina's concerned expression. Shit, he thought. He'd dropped his poker face, and that had been exactly what Lina had been going for.

Ryuk cackled behind him. "Hahahaha. This is interestin'... " he said. "Guess that Xelloss guy really was tryin' ta protect ya, huh."

"Well?" Lina asked, quietly. "What do you think, Zelgadiss?"

Zelgadiss was quiet for a moment. He could either admit his guilt and see what happened--after all, he could take Lina in a fight, or at least run... Lina and Filia would be too much for him to handle, probably, but he could easily remedy that with the paper in his pocket. But he really didn't want to. Filia had been a good friend. Lina, too. But could Lina forgive him for what he had done? Probably not.

Well, he might as well see if he could keep the lie up. Just for a little longer.

Zelgadiss looked up to meet her eyes. "I think that, if you already have the name of the murderer, you should have him arrested."

"True... but what if he's too powerful to be arrested?" Lina asked, danger in her voice. "What if the sorcerer is someone who could easily hold his own in a fight, _and_ somehow got his hands on a spell he could use to kill everyone on a whim anyway?"

"I guess that's a possibility..." Zelgadiss agreed, watching Lina.

Filia shook her head. "I think you should just ask him," she said to Lina.

Lina smirked. "I guess so. Time for us to stop beating around the bush, Zel. We have a suspect. And we've got tons of evidence against him. There is now no doubt in my mind that this suspect is the murderer."

Zelgadiss' eyes narrowed as Lina spoke. She continued uninterrupted. "The only thing I don't know is _how_ he's doing it. But with all the evidence, I can convince all the authorities that this man is guilty."

Zelgadiss was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "All right. What does the evidence say, Lina." It was more a statement than a question.

Lina's eyes didn't move from Zelgadiss'. "The first sorcerers to die were researching chimeras," she said. "After them came others. And many sorcerers were caught writing huge manuscripts before they died. But no one knew what they were writing, or what happened to the manuscripts... until now."

Out of her pack, Lina pulled an envelope. On it was written: "Leahat Delard, Eldor, Kalmaart." The letter had already been opened, and presumably read.

Zelgadiss swallowed. So she had the letter. That was about it, wasn't it.

"I think it's safe to say that I know pretty much all the really powerful sorcerers in this world," Lina said. Zelgadiss had seen that expression on her face before--she was ready to pounce. "Most of them are dead. But of the ones that are still alive... I'd say there's only one who'd actually be interested enough in chimera creation and destruction that they would kill thousands of people for it."

Thousands. Had Zelgadiss' numbers really reached that high? He hadn't noticed. "Really," he said, evenly.

"Yeah, Zel. You."

Ryuk's irritating laughter filled the restaurant. "What're ya gonna do now, Zel?" he asked, getting right in Zelgadiss' face.

Zelgadiss smirked a little, ignoring Ryuk. "All right," he said, leaning back. His hands went into his pockets. "Great detective work, Lina. To be expected, I guess."

Filia gasped. "It's true?" she said. "No..."

"Yes," Zelgadiss said, and his tone was all but remorseful. "I am the murderer. So what are you going to do about it? We're friends, aren't we, Lina?" The smirk grew into a sneer.

Lina's prepared, angry, fighting look completely disappeared from her face, replaced with a frown. She leaned back. "I didn't want to believe it, Zel. I really didn't. I thought you were better than that."

Zelgadiss shrugged. "I guess these are my true colors, Lina."

"I guess so." Lina let out a breath. "You know, now I don't _know_ what I'm going to do. I thought I was kind of prepared for this, but... I'm really not. I don't..." She looked at the table. "I don't want to fight you, Zel. But I don't want to die, either."

Zelgadiss laughed. "Don't worry about _that_, Lina. I would never kill you."

Lina's mouth twitched a little. "Well, that's good to know. Hard to believe, though."

Filia stood. "That's...that's not all of it!" she cried, slamming her fists down on the table. "How could you do it, Zelgadiss? How could you kill _all_ of those innocent people, just for your _cure_?"

"It's not _just_ a cure, Filia!" Zelgadiss rose, but his hands remained in his pockets. "If _you_ had to live your life like me, as a _freak_, then you'd know why I did what I did!"

"Zel, sit," Lina sighed. "Filia, your tail's showing."

Filia blushed and sat down. After a moment, Zelgadiss sat as well. He didn't like Lina's tone, but he decided he'd have to take it, at least for now. Lina was right, after all. They were attracting attention.

"All right. So now we know _who_ did it, and _why_," Lina said. "But we don't know how. Do you mind enlightening us, Zel?"

Zel snorted. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Well... so I know my life isn't in danger, I guess," Lina shrugged. "And maybe if you hand over whatever you've been using, or help me find a counterspell, we can just forget _all_ about this."

"What?!" Filia cried in a harsh whisper. "We can't just let him walk after this!"

"He's our _friend_, Filia," Lina ground out. "And sure, he did something horrible...but, well, I've done some pretty bad stuff in the past, too."

"You... you really would forgive me, for all of this?" Zelgadiss asked. Even Zelgadiss knew he'd done something wrong. He didn't feel guilty about it, of course not, but he knew that he'd hurt a lot of people, and that wasn't something most people forgave so easily.

"Sure," Lina shrugged, smiling. "What're friends for?"

Zelgadiss smiled a little back. "Wow, Lina. That's something else. But..." He shook his head. "I'll show you how I do it, but I'm not going to hand it over."

Lina's eyes narrowed. "Why not?" she asked.

"Because," Zelgadiss replied, "I'm still using it." He smirked.

Lina glared. "After all of that, even though I was willing to forgive you and just wash this _all_ away, you're not willing to give up the murder weapon?"

"No," Zelgadiss said, shrugging. "Sorry."

Lina slapped her forehead with her hand. "You're being a little ridiculous, Zel. You know Filia and I can't just let you walk out of here without handing it over. Even if you don't kill us, you could kill thousands of other people. I can't let that happen."

"You're sounding like Amelia," Zelgadiss quipped.

"No, Zel," Lina glared. "I'm sounding like a normal, sane, _rational_ person. That's what I am. That's what you used to be, too."

"Harsh." Zel was still smirking. "So. You and Filia won't let me out of here unless I hand over the murder weapon?"

"Right," Lina said.

Zelgadiss sighed. "Well, fine. I guess I don't have a choice." Out of his pockets, he pulled his pen and a piece of the Death Note. Lina started in surprise, ready for an attack, until she saw what he had: just a regular quill pen and a piece of paper. She relaxed.

"Hey, wait a sec, Zel..." Ryuk interrupted. "You can't kill this Lina girl, right?"

Zelgadiss ignored him. "Look, I'm going to write down the location of the murder weapon. I don't have it on me," she said to Filia and Lina.

Lina let out a breath and smiled. "All right, Zel!" she cheered. "We can make this right after all! Woohoo!"

Zel grinned. "Right," he replied, and started writing. That twinge hit him again, but he ignored it much more easily this time. It had to be done, and well... with this, he'd be able to conquer even the great Lina Inverse.

Filia Ul Copt. As fast as she can, grabs the arms of the female friend beside her and holds her in place. Prevents her from casting anything. Holds her there for ten minutes before dying of a heart attack.

Zelgadiss watched them for a good twenty seconds. "Come on, Zel, let's see it!" Lina grinned, eager to get her grubby hands on whatever Zel had been using to kill people. Pathetic, really.

"Well... just a second. Are you sure you want to see this?" Zelgadiss asked. Nineteen. Eighteen. Seventeen.

"Yeah!" Lina said.

Zelgadiss nodded. "All right. Here." At that, he handed over the piece of paper. Lina snatched it out of his hands and began to read.

"W-wait a second..." Lina gulped. "Does this... Zel, no way!"

Then she screamed as she looked up. She dropped the paper in her surprise. There, hovering beside Zelgadiss, was what looked like a mazoku. A very dangerous, toothy mazoku. "Zel... behind you!"

"That's Ryuk," Zelgadiss said, a calm, predatory smile on his face. He picked up the piece of paper.

"Nice ta meetcha," Ryuk grinned, extending a claw to shake. Lina ignored it, instead staring into Zelgadiss' eyes, disbelieving.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Filia's hands pulled Lina back against the chair. Lina tried to struggle, but Filia, with her dragon strength, held her still.

"Zel..." Lina whispered.

There was that twinge of emotions and guilt again, crying out to him. No, Zelgadiss thought. This should be enough to silence it forever.

Zelgadiss smirked. "Don't worry, though, Lina. I can't kill you. Here..." Out of his pack, he took another piece of paper.

"Hey, what's--" Lina started. Then Zelgadiss unrolled it and held it out in front of her.

"I don't need this anymore. I've read it. It's pretty straightforward. Xelloss gave it to me, actually." He pointed to the end. "This is the important part. It says here I can't kill you, Amelia, or Gourry. Thanks to Phibrizzo."

Lina stared down at it, then looked back at Zelgadiss. "You know I don't really care about that, Zel. I just... I just wanted..." Zelgadiss could have sworn he saw tears welling up beneath Lina's eyes.

"Wanted _what_, Lina?"

"I just wanted to get you to stop, and then... and then we could all just go do the good-guy thing again. You know, fight evil, kill mazoku... fight bandits..."

Zelgadiss smiled and stood, leaving the contract there on the table. "Sorry, Lina. If you insist on getting in my way... then of course this is what's going to happen." He looked at Filia, who was as unmoving as a stone statue.

"You... monster, Zelgadiss," Lina hissed.

Zel twitched, then smirked. "Not for much longer, if I can help it." He picked up the letter Lina had left on the table. "Thanks for getting me my mail."

"Zel!" Lina cried out after him. "You know this means I have to try and... capture you," Lina called out to him.

"Yeah..." Zel replied. "I know." At that, he left the inn, Ryuk cackling behind him.

A/N: Poor Filia. I've really just picked on her since her appearance. Oh well...

No, I don't hate Filia. She was simply... convenient.

Zel's really gone off the deep end, hasn't he?

'Til next time.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Been rather busy as of late.

WARNING: sex in this chapter. Yes, gay sex.

Chapter 9

Zelgadiss couldn't believe his eyes as he read the letter in the envelope he'd stolen from Lina. "This is it," be breathed, flipping through the pages. "I can't believe it..."

"It is? Huh," Ryuk supplied. He was munching on an apple Zelgadiss had given him. "I didn't think you'd find it."

Zelgadiss chuckled a little. "I was beginning to think I wouldn't either. But look at this!"

"Eh, not really interested," Ryuk shrugged, swallowing the apple. "Can I have another apple?"

"No," Zelgadiss said, absorbed in the text. "It will be a while before I can get you any more. My cover's been blown. But look..."

Ryuk gave in and walked over. "What?"

"It's a piece of the Claire Bible. I didn't think this guy would have anything, but here it is. Somehow, that last sorcerer found a piece of it... a piece that had my _cure_. Well, at least, it tells me how to get it..."

"Mm. But the cost was pretty high, wasn't it?"

"No, not really..." Zelgadiss shook his head. "Anything is worth this. And besides, once I get my cure, no one will recognize me... and I'll be able to walk through cities unnoticed. Hah! Yes, this is _it_!"

"But... Lina read it too, didn't she? Don't ya think she's gonna come after ya?"

"Probably..." Zelgadiss admitted. "So I'll just have to get there first."

He read the page again in more detail. There, right in front of him, was information on the very make-up of humans, magically-created creatures (such as golems), dragons, and demons (including brau demons). After that, it included information on an item, a magical item, that the Lord of Nightmares had created on a whim. This item could merge two beings or take them apart, carefully and delicately, to return them to their original state. The piece also stated where the item was located, the Kataart mountains. Damn--if only he'd thought to have asked for information on his cure while they were fighting Gaav. Although, none of the dragons he'd killed there had seemed to know anything about it, so they must not have known. "Somehow... I was beginning to think it wasn't _possible_."

"Pretty lucky, huh. After all, I bet that sorcerer didn't know a thing about golems, other than the piece of the Claire Bible he found," Ryuk said. "Good thing ya started killin' _all_ the powerful sorcerers."

"Yes, I suppose so..." Zelgadiss said, shaking his head.

"So are we leavin'? We gotta get there first, right?" Ryuk asked.

"Maybe..." Zelgadiss considered. "I guess we'll just have to hurry. She probably has a short lead on us. But I am faster..."

"But you'll hafta avoid all the cities and stuff," Ryuk pointed out.

"Right," Zelgadiss agreed. "I guess I'll just have to hurry. I can't let Lina steal my cure when it's in my grasp."

"I don't think you should worry about that," came a voice.

"Xelloss."

There, a few feet in front of him, appeared the priest, smiling and chipper.

"You could have _told_ me," Zelgadiss growled.

"Ah, here we go again... heh," Ryuk commented. Zelgadiss glared at him and looked back at Xelloss.

"Told you what?"

"That Lina was waiting for me in the village!" Zelgadiss ground out.

"If I'd done that, you might not be standing here with that letter in your hand!" Xelloss pointed out, winking at him. "Now would you?"

Zelgadiss growled. "I guess..." he said. "Fine. Whatever. What did you mean by what you said earlier?"

"Well!" Xelloss beamed. "I know how you could arrive at the location specified in that document in mere hours."

Zelgadiss' eyebrows shot up. "Hours? How?"

"Well..." Xelloss said, waving his finger, "I could teleport you, of course."

"Hey! But then it would take me forever to catch up!" Ryuk protested.

Zelgadiss completely ignored Ryuk and looked at Xelloss skeptically. "I would appreciate that... but why would it take hours?"

"Simple," Xelloss grinned a little seductively at him, and he took a step closer to the chimera, his intentions obvious in his eyes. "I'll want something in return."

"Oh. Hahaha," Ryuk laughed as it dawned on him exactly what Xelloss wanted from Zelgadiss.

"You... ugh," Zelgadiss shivered and looked away. He didn't want to even consider that. The very thought turned him on, but that loss of control... no. He wouldn't do anything like _that_ with a mazoku.

"And if you don't, she'll definitely get there before you, especially with all the traps she has set up. Apparently, knowing Amelia-san can have its advantages." He admitted that last part a little grudgingly.

Zelgadiss scowled. So, Lina had been planning something all along. If she wanted war, then she'd get that war. "Fine..." he hissed. "I agree. On one condition..."

"And that is?" Xelloss prompted.

"You transport me to two places: First, that cave with the scrying pool."

"Even with that horrible smell?" 

"I'll deal. After I'm done there, you'll teleport me to this place in the Kataart mountains. _Then _we'll do...whatever it is you want." Zelgadiss wrinkled his nose.

"Sex," Xelloss said, taking the direct approach, eyes open and staring into the chimera's. "That's what I want from you, Zelgadiss-san. I want to have sex with you."

Zelgadiss blushed and looked away. He couldn't believe that he was agreeing to this. But well... he didn't actually have to go through with it. Once Xelloss had teleported him to the Kataart mountains, Zelgadiss wouldn't have any use for him anymore, and he could use his ace in the hole. He was kind of glad he'd waited this long to use it, actually. It seemed Xelloss could prove himself kind of useful. "Fine," he said. "Whatever."

"But I want to have my way with you _before_ we arrive at the Kataart mountains," Xelloss said, smiling a little.

"What?! Why?"

"Because," Xelloss grinned. "I want to have sex with _this_ body, Zelgadiss-san..." He brushed the chimera's shoulder. "Not some human I just met."

Zelgadiss blushed bright red. "I don't see why..." he mumbled.

"Simple," Xelloss replied, leaning in a little closer. "I find you sexy, Zelgadiss. And I want you to know you're sexy, too."

Zelgadiss continued to look away. There was no getting out of it, apparently. "Fine..." he whispered. "Just... teleport me to the cave."

"Agreed," Xelloss said with a nod, and wrapped his arms around Zelgadiss.

"Is this much contact really necessary?" Zelgadiss grumbled. He picked up his pack of things.

"More or less," Xelloss whispered into his ear. And they disappeared.

"Hey, wait up!" Ryuk protested, and flew off towards the cave.

--

They reached the cave, and Zelgadiss shoved Xelloss away. "Okay..." He looked down at the scrying pool and took out his Death Note and a pen. "Let's do this. Show me Eldor, Kalmaart."

There was the town. Troops had already started to gather around it. Troops belonging to Seyruun and Kalmaart.

Troops were easy to dispose of. Zelgadiss sat down and, using his shinigami eyes, began to write the names.

And nearly instantly, they fell. Generals, sergeants, foot soldiers, they were all the same to the Death Note. Name after name went down in the Death Note, one after another. But why stop at the army? The townsfolk could be troops in disguise. Even if they weren't, they deserved this for standing against Zelgadiss. Their deaths would show Lina he meant business. 

Men, women, and children, all of them grabbed their chests one by one and fell to the ground. Heart attacks. The children would suffer for the sins of their parents. And in minutes, all of Eldor was destroyed. "Go north," Zelgadiss hissed at the pool. "Follow the main road." It obeyed, revealing more army men lying in wait. None of them knew of the deaths of their comrades. Soldier after soldier clutched their chests, convulsed, and died. He could see them screaming, but the scrying pool did not play Zelgadiss sounds. It was like watching a silent movie.

And there was Lina, standing on the path. Her mouth was moving, crying something out. She glared at the sky, and for a moment, Zelgadiss could swear their eyes met.

It wasn't hard to figure out what Lina was screaming. "ZEL!" "ZEL, YOU..." Then some sort of profanities, Zelgadiss was sure.

"Heh, it's all your fault, Lina," Zelgadiss whispered back. "You sent these soldiers to their graves."

Then Lina started pointing at something.

Ryuk. Ryuk was flying over, observing the carnage. Lina lobbed fireballs at him, but they passed straight through.

Guess it meant Lina still had her spirit. Zelgadiss smiled a little at that... then shook his head. This was war. Lina was the enemy. He continued in his gruesome task.

Zelgadiss led the scrying pool on until it reached the village beneath the Kataart mountains. "There..." Zelgadiss hissed. In the center of town, waiting for Zelgadiss' arrival, stood Amelia, Gourry, and a bunch of soldiers. Amelia looked a little worried and anxious. They probably hadn't heard anything from the rest of the troops.

For a moment, there was that twinge again. "Dammit..." Zelgadiss cursed it away. He thought for sure that would go away when he'd killed Filia. Apparently, seeing cute, innocent Amelia brought it right back.

If she knew what he'd done... Zelgadiss shook his head. There was no stopping now. He needed an escape route, after all, once he'd found his cure. He could run from Amelia and Gourry, but Amelia, Gourry, and hundreds of troops would probably be too much for him to handle.

So he started to write. He started at the outside of the village and worked in, closing in on Amelia and Gourry. At first, they didn't seem to notice anything. But then, the screams started to reach them. Amelia shouted something out, and prepared for battle. Then the soliders near Amelia started falling, and she ran towards one of them.

She shouted something. "Hold on!" Zelgadiss imagined her calling out. She started casting a healing spell on the soldier.

It wouldn't work, Zelgadiss knew. But she tried anyway, and tried again when the first spell had no effect.

"Ah, poor Amelia-san," Xelloss chuckled next to him. "I wonder if Lina told her the killer's you? That would break her heart. More than it hurt Lina, I think. Lina can forgive you, but I wonder if Amelia could forgive you so easily, after witnessing her friend commit such heinous and unjust crimes."

"Shut up," Zelgadiss whispered, and continued his grisly work.

And then, Amelia and Gourry were the only two left standing. Amelia was crying, Zelgadiss noticed.

He really hated to see her cry.

"All right," Zelgadiss said, turning around. "That's done."

"What about Seyruun?" Xelloss pointed out. "Don't you think they'll send reinforcements?"

Zelgadiss was silent for a moment. Then he turned back to the pool. "Show me Seyruun."

It was practically silent. A few villagers wandered around, but as for the army... it was conspicuously absent. There were only a few soldiers standing in Phil's throne room, guarding him. "I don't think that will be an issue," he said quietly.

"And Prince Phil?"

"I don't have any reason to kill him," Zelgadiss said, snapping the Death Note shut and placing it in his pack. "And if I do need to in the future, I already know his name."

"Right, right," Xelloss sighed. "Ahem. As much as I enjoy senseless carnage..."

"It _wasn't_ senseless!" Zelgadiss snapped at Xelloss. He glared at the mazoku. All he had to do was _cast that spell_, and Xelloss would be dead. But no. He needed him for the next task.

"It wasn't?" Xelloss asked, cocking his head to the side. "Then why did you kill them?"

"Because they were in my way," Zelgadiss hissed.

"Were they really?"

"Yes!"

"But I had offered to transport you there myself, had I not?"

"What about getting out of there?!"

"You could have asked me to transport you out, as well."

Zelgadiss was quiet. Then, "I suppose."

"So why did you do it?"

"Because I wanted to."

"Well, I suppose that's as good a reason as any," Xelloss shrugged. "Come, let's go somewhere more comfortable." Zelgadiss shuddered at what that entailed, but he didn't move away. Xelloss placed a hand on Zelgadiss' shoulder, and they were gone.

--

They reappeared in a room somewhere. It was a hotel, by the looks of it. An expensive hotel. There was a huge canopy bed in the middle of the room, and the walls were painted a deep red. The door on the right was open, leading to a bathroom.

Zelgadiss swallowed and steeled himself against what he knew was about to come.

"You're so tense!" Xelloss laughed. "Relax, Zelgadiss-san. I'm not going to bite you... too hard."

Zelgadiss shivered. "Before we do anything, Xelloss... please tell me. Why? Why do you want to do any of this?"

Xelloss smiled at him, his eyes open. "I find you attractive, Zelgadiss-san."

"Then why now?" Zelgadiss asked. "Why not any of the other times, when I was with Lina and the others as well?"

"How do you think that would have affected my relationship with Lina, hm?" Xelloss pointed out, reaching his arms around and removing Zelgadiss's heavy black cloak. "Unfortunately, there were more important things to worry about."

"Then tell me. What is your mission right now, Xelloss?" Zelgadiss asked. He hated the way Xelloss made him feel weak whenever he was around him.

"It's not very interesting, really," Xelloss smirked. "It is only to watch you, and make sure you don't use the Death Note on anyone listed in the contract I gave you."

"I see. Why?"

"Politics," Xelloss shrugged, hanging up Zelgadiss' cloak and removing his own. "If we let anyone breach the contract without consequences, then how would we keep the shinigami in line?"

"Oh..." Zelgadiss nodded. "I suppose that makes sense... Speaking of which, I wonder where he is..."

Xelloss shrugged. "He shouldn't be able to find us for a while, I think. Which means we have a few hours' rest from his incessant chuckling."

Zelgadiss laughed and sat down. "All right. One more question. Why did you protest when I killed all those people?"

Xelloss' open eyes looked straight into Zelgadiss', sending shivers down Zelgadiss' spine. "Simple," he said. "Because as much as I enjoy death and destruction, I don't want you going crazy, Zelgadiss-san."

That hit Zelgadiss like a ton of bricks. "Wait. You're... _worried_ about me?"

Xelloss laughed. "As much as a mazoku can actually _worry_ about a lesser being such as yourself, yes. To be honest, if taking care of you ever conflicted in the least with another objective, I would drop you like a hot potato. Purely business, you understand."

"Gee, thanks." He snorted, a small smile on his face. Then he considered Xelloss' comment for a moment. "Still, I didn't think a mazoku was capable of thinking something like that."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Xelloss said. He patted the bed beside him.

Zelgadiss hesitated, then obliged, sitting a short distance away from the mazoku.

Xelloss put his hands on Zelgadiss' shoulders, and the chimera flinched, but didn't move. "Even after all that," Xelloss commented, "You're still very tense." He began rubbing Zelgadiss' shoulders. "Relax, will you? I promise you'll enjoy this."

Zelgadiss swallowed. "This is a one-time thing, you know."

"Oh, I know." Xelloss was still smiling, his eyes open. He started rubbing Zelgadiss' shoulders harder, then moved down to the chimera's back. "Why don't you lie down?"

The sooner they did this, Zelgadiss decided, the sooner it would be over. And then... he let a grin creep onto his face. As soon as Xelloss transported him to the cave, he would kill the mazoku, and he wouldn't be tormented by these... _feelings_ any more. If Xelloss noticed, he didn't say anything.

So Zelgadiss lay down on the bed on his front, arms above his head. Xelloss positioned himself above the chimera's hips and started to rub his back through his black tunic, massaging out all the tense spots. Zelgadiss felt himself relaxing despite himself.

"Yeah..." Zelgadiss admitted. "But can't you just... get it over with? I need to get to the mountains before Lina does..."

"Oh, don't worry so much," Xelloss replied. "She'll have to trek up through the mountains to get to the cave anyway. She might even wait for you at the bottom."

"Maybe..."

"Don't worry, I have someone tracking her," Xelloss said. "He'll let me know when she's close."

Zelgadiss sighed. "Fine... I just..."

"Want to get it over with," Xelloss supplied, still working on Zelgadiss' muscles. "Well, too bad, Zelgadiss-san, because I'm going to make sure you enjoy this..." He leaned in to whisper in Zelgadiss' ear. "Whether you like it or not. Now, are you going to take off your tunic or am I going to have to rip it off of you?"

Zelgadiss blushed. "F-fine... just get off of me..." Xelloss did, and Zelgadiss sat up. He undid his belt and slipped his tunic up over his head. He had a bit of a hard-on already, he noticed to his displeasure.

"That's better," Xelloss said. He picked up the tunic, turned from Zelgadiss, and placed it on the rack with Zelgadiss' cloak. As soon as he returned, he pushed him down onto the bed. Xelloss followed him, lying on top and straddling him. Zelgadiss swallowed.

Xelloss smirked. "Even with all your power, you're still afraid of me, aren't you?" he whispered in the chimera's ear.

"No..." Zelgadiss replied. "I'm _not_."

Xelloss gave a low chuckle. "Good," he replied, and bit Zelgadiss' neck.

The chimera arched up into the air as the mazoku sucked on that one spot. "Ahh," he gasped. He tried to wriggle away despite himself.

Xelloss licked the spot he'd just bitten on so savagely. "You can't escape me," he whispered and grabbed Zelgadiss' lips in a kiss.

It was different this time; not quite as forceful, and not quite as...well, engaging. It just wasn't as good. Xelloss broke the kiss a moment later.

"What's wrong?" Zelgadiss asked, then stopped himself. Of course nothing was wrong. After all, Xelloss was a mazoku. They didn't have emotions, not really.

Xelloss smirked a little. "What makes you think something is wrong?"

"You're just... well... you don't seem into it," Zelgadiss replied.

"Is that so? Hmm..." Xelloss considered. "Well. I'll just have to try harder."

Then, Xelloss plunged his tongue into Zelgadiss' mouth, playing with the chimera's tongue, much more like the first time. "Mm..." Zelgadiss groaned into the kiss despite himself.

Xelloss sneaked a hand in between them and started playing with the chimera's nipple. Zelgadiss arched into his touch. Then Xelloss broke the kiss and bit Zelgadiss' neck once more, harder than before. "Gah..." It was _painful_ this time. Enjoyable, but painful. Xelloss moved downward to _bite_ Zelgadiss nipple, making the chimera try to squirm away in pain.

"Oh no," Xelloss said. "For right now, you're _mine_, Zelgadiss." His eyes flared dangerously. "No matter what comes after..."

Zelgadiss didn't have time to question the meaning of that statement, as Xelloss nipped and sucked his way down Zelgadiss' chest to the hem of his pants. Without another word, Xelloss yanked the black pants down, exposing Zelgadiss' erection.

Xelloss looked up to meet Zelgadiss' eyes, just briefly, before coming down on him.

Zelgadiss was, in truth, a virgin, and the delightful sensation washed over him for the first time. "Oh, god..." he gasped, and in moments was about to cum. He felt helpless against Xelloss' ministrations, and somehow, that fact started to make Zelgadiss feel very, very unhappy.

And that's when Xelloss stopped, and pulled back. Zelgadiss panted and watched him, begging him with his eyes to finish him off. And Zelgadiss hated himself for begging. Instead, Xelloss lifted the chimera up a little to expose his butt. Zelgadiss' eyes widened in mild disbelief as Xelloss pulled undid his belt and pulled his pants down to expose an erect cock. He still hadn't removed any of his clothing. He positioned himself near Zelgadiss' opening.

"H-hold on..."

Xelloss looked Zelgadiss in the eye for a moment, but didn't break his silence. He just watched him for a moment, then in one stroke, plunged himself inside the chimera.

"Ah..." Zelgadiss' hands gripped the sheets. PAIN, but pleasure that started to overcome it.

"Good, Zelgadiss?" Xelloss asked, finally saying something. "How does it feel?" He rocked against the chimera.

"Ah... yes..." Zelgadiss heard himself saying. He didn't want to admit it, but it felt wonderful, even though he'd never felt so dominated in his life.

"Good," Xelloss said. He held Zelgadiss' legs in place as he thrust into him, never breaking eye contact with the chimera. Then he came forward, positioning himself on top of him, arching Zelgadiss' back as he did so. He thrust in and out, ignoring Zelgadiss' erection entirely.

"Ah... gah..." Zelgadiss reached down to touch his neglected erection, but Xelloss swatted his hand away and held him down. "H-hey..."

Now Zelgadiss started to really feel afraid. Xelloss held him pinned down against the bed with both hands. He started struggling, and Xelloss only clamped his grip down harder.

Xelloss leaned down to bite Zelgadiss' neck as he thrust. Hard, harder than he had before. "Ahh!" He thought he felt him cut through his rock skin. "Ow... st-stop..."

"No," Xelloss said, and Zelgadiss thought he saw anger in those purple eyes of his. Xelloss thrust hard and fast, then he hit that one spot.

"Euh!" Zelgadiss' world erupted in colors as he came all over Xelloss' chest. Xelloss came a moment later, but his face showed almost no emotion as he did so. Then, just like that, Xelloss pulled out and moved away from him.

Zelgadiss sat up and touched his shoulder to find that it was bleeding. He scowled. "You broke the skin, Xelloss," he said, and started chanting a healing spell.

"I suppose I did!" Xelloss was back to his chipper, annoying self, a giant grin on his face. "But you liked it, didn't you?"

"I... um... yeah..." Zelgadiss looked away. "But... that was really rough, Xelloss... My ass hurts."

"Well what do you expect? I'm a mazoku, aren't I?" He walked over to the coat rack and picked up his and Zelgadiss' cloaks. He tossed the chimera's at him, and Zelgadiss caught it. "But it was quick, just as you requested, wasn't it?"

"Y-yeah..."

Xelloss smiled. "Then what's the problem?"

"None, I guess..."

"Good. Now that we're finished copulating, why don't we get back to the matter at hand?"

"_Copulating_. Xelloss, what..." Zelgadiss was having trouble reading the mazoku. Not that that was anything new.

"What, what?"

"Never mind," Zelgadiss sighed. He wiped himself off with the sheet and dressed.

--

A/N: Yes, yes, I realize that wasn't the most _satisfying_ sex scene, but well... I have a reason for it. XD;

And the reason is... ANGST! woohoo! angst over sex! O.O : wrist-slash : : plays emo music :


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Last chapter! Epilogue comes after this one (I'll post that soon, in a few days I think). This chapter is actually one of my favorites, because of one of Xelloss' lines. Um... but I probably shouldn't say that about my own fic, I think. Oh well.

Thanks for the reviews, and please R&R!

Chapter 10

Xelloss and Zelgadiss appeared in a cave in the Kataart mountains a moment later. It was a small cave, easy to defend, and easy to trap someone inside. That was the first thing Zelgadiss noticed about it.

The second thing was that it was completely and utterly empty, aside from a small shimmering towards the back. "That's it!" Zelgadiss said, and raced over to it.

Only to find that it was a simple light spell, tinted a little to make it look shimmery and important.

"Wait... no..." Zelgadiss gaped. It couldn't be. "It's a trap..." he said.

"Mmm. I guess so," Xelloss replied. "But a trap you utterly annihilated earlier, remember?"

Zelgadiss fell down to his knees. "That doesn't matter. The fact is... there's no cure. Lina... _tricked_ me."

"Seems like it," Xelloss agreed.

"She rewrote the sorcerer's letter."

"Mmhmm."

"She did _all_ of this... to catch me."

"Guess so."

"No..." Zelgadiss pounded the cave floor with his hand. "No..." Then he turned to Xelloss. "You knew, didn't you?"

"Me?"

Zelgadiss snarled. "Yes. _You..._" He put his hand in a hidden pocket in the inside of his tunic. It was time to teach Xelloss a lesson. "You..." he paused. "Where is it? No..."

Xelloss put his hand in his cloak. "You're looking for this, aren't you?" He produced an inch-wide stone bracelet covered in dragon runes and dripping with holy magic.

Zelgadiss' eyes widened. "How did you... I put a concealing spell on it..."

"Wasn't difficult when I knew what to look for," Xelloss replied. His face was blank. No smile. "I took your tunic and placed it on the coat rack, remember? Mazoku are very good at sleight-of-hand when they need to be... not being corporeal, after all."

"Give it back." Zelgadiss bared his teeth and started chanting. Maybe he didn't have that bracelet, so he couldn't cast that powerful holy magic he'd learned, but he could still use Ra Tilt.

"Fine," Xelloss said, holding it out in his hand.

Zelgadiss stopped chanting. "What?"

"I said, here." Xelloss walked a little closer and placed it in Zelgadiss' hand. His eyes opened as he closed the chimera's hand around the bracelet. He looked straight into Zelgadiss' eyes. "Now. Are you going to use it on me, Zelgadiss-san?"

"Why... why did you..." Zelgadiss whispered, looking down at the bracelet in his hand in disbelief.

"Give it back?" Xelloss finished for him. "Perhaps I trust you, Zelgadiss."

"Well then, your trust is misplaced." Zelgadiss slipped it onto his wrist in half a moment and began to chant. "Holy Ward!" with only a few words, the cave was warded. No mazoku could get in or out. And it was different from the spell Zelgadiss had used before—this one, he could tell, he couldn't just blast through.

Xelloss tensed. He hadn't expected the bracelet to be _that_ powerful. He didn't attack, but instead, waited for Zelgadiss' move. "Here I am," Xelloss whispered. "Trapped in a cage with you, Zelgadiss-san. Are you going to kill me now?"

"Yes," Zelgadiss said, and a smile creeped onto his face.

"I see. Well then, I can't do anything except attempt to defend myself," Xelloss replied quietly.

Zelgadiss stood there, waiting for Xelloss to move. He chanted under his breath.

Then.

"Ra Tilt!"

Xelloss dodged, and reappeared behind Zelgadiss.

"You'll have to--" Xelloss began.

"Chaotic Disintegrate!"

Within only a few seconds, Zelgadiss had already completed another spell! A flood of white dragon magic burst out of the bracelet. This spell was powerful--if Xelloss phased out, he'd still be caught in the blast. Instead, Xelloss dodged to the left, but the spell still managed to hit his side. Pain flashed through him, and he collapsed to the ground. His left arm dissipated into nothingness, taking a piece of his side with it, and leaving a long, plasma-leaking black wound from his shoulder to his waist.

He crumpled to his knees, gripping the hole where his arm used to be in a futile attempt to cover it up and keep the plasma from escaping. But he had bigger things to worry about. He couldn't leave the cave and Zelgadiss would be able to fire off another spell in a matter of seconds.

He looked into Zelgadiss' eyes, but he found no pity there. Xelloss closed his eyes. He would not show Zelgadiss the pain and weakness he felt. Instead, he smiled. "Well, well. I wouldn't have thought you were capable of such cruelty, Zelgadiss-san. Killing an old comrade..."

Zelgadiss laughed as he closed the distance between the two of them. "You were never a comrade of mine, Xelloss. Not even close."

Zelgadiss probably had no idea how much that hurt.

Xelloss racked his non-physical brain. There had to be some way out of this. There had to be. He couldn't just die here. What would Zelas-sama think? He'd fallen victim to his feelings for the chimera, hadn't he. It was his own fault. "Zelgadiss-san... don't do this. If you kill me, there's no turning back, you know..."

"Compared to Filia, you're worth less to me than dirt. Killing you would mean nothing to me. I think I'm already past that stage, Xelloss. There's already no turning back, and I'm glad of it." Zelgadiss crouched down to look at the fallen mazoku. There was a smile on his face that could scare a demon lord. "Plead for your life, Xelloss. Tell me you're sorry for using me."

"I..." Xelloss winced. Apologizing was not something that came easily to Mazoku. It was painful, acknowledging that they had done something wrong—worse, if apologizing to a human, it meant one was less than a human. Mazoku could not do that without gravely wounding their astral form. And that was certainly a wound he wouldn't be able to take, not right now. "I did not mean to use you."

"You...bastard!" Zelgadiss hissed. He struck Xelloss across the cheek, but Xelloss didn't falter. Physical pain did nothing, but inside, Xelloss was falling apart, astrally and emotionally. "That's it." He started chanting.

Xelloss prepared himself for the inevitable. Or perhaps Zelgadiss would see through this self-righteous haze he'd created for himself, just at the last moment.

Not likely, Xelloss realized as Zelgadiss finished his spell.

"Chaotic..."

"Ah hah!" cried Ryuk as he flew through the ward. Zelgadiss lost his concentration. He cursed, losing his hold on the spell. "There you two are! I knew you'd get here eventually!"

"Ryuk-san!" Xelloss exclaimed. "How good it is to see you!" He clutched his wound.

"His presence changes _nothing_," Zelgadiss hissed. "I'm still going to kill you, Xelloss."

"Ah... hah hah, I suppose I should have expected that..." Xelloss replied, looking bashful. "I suppose I deserve it, hm, after taking you against your will."

Zelgadiss blushed. "Shut up!" he hissed.

"Hehehe, too bad I couldn't find ya in time to watch _that_," Ryuk said. Then his eyes fell to Xelloss' wound. "Huh? What did I miss?" 

Zelgadiss turned to glare at Ryuk. "Shut up, voyeur."

In that moment, Xelloss disappeared.

"No!" Zelgadiss cried. He looked around. Xelloss had to be in the cave somewhere. He mumbled a few words and held out his fist. The bracelet glimmered, ripe with power and ready to blast.

"Hey! No fair!" Ryuk burst out.

Zelgadiss looked back at Ryuk. At first, he didn't see anything in the cave's gloom; then he saw it. Black movement behind the shinigami.

"Chaotic Disintegrate!" Zelgadiss cast.

Then there was pain as something hit Zelgadiss in the back of the neck, and everything went black.

--

Xelloss sighed and looked down at the chimera. "Well, that experiment failed," he said. He watched idly as the ward fell down when Zelgadiss went unconscious.

"What experiment?" Ryuk asked, landing nearby. "I did what you whispered in my ear and moved my wings a bit, and it worked perfectly in the dark. Zel didn't have a clue! Now get me some apples."

"Fine, fine," Xelloss sighed. "But first..." He bent down to take the bracelet off of Zelgadiss' wrist. He put it in a pocket. "All right. Now for your apples."

Even with Xelloss's wound, it was again a very simple task for Xelloss to disappear, reappear in the middle of a market (much to the surprise of the marketgoers), steal some apples, and return. "Here," he said. Ryuk dove right in.

Xelloss looked down at the limp form of Zelgadiss. He sighed. "Perhaps I hit him a little too hard..."

"Ngh," Zelgadiss groaned. He had already started to wake up, but should be paralyzed for at least another minute or so.

"Now, what shall I do? I could take him away to recover elsewhere... or I can leave him here to fend for himself against Lina and her friends while paralyzed."

"I dun care," Ryuk said, eating. "Either way's fine with me."

"Hmmm. Well, I suppose if the Death Note falls in the wrong hands, I can simply take it away!"

"Uh... kay," Ryuk agreed, munching away.

"Hm... but leaving him here like this is a bit heartless of me, isn't it?" Xelloss asked, eyes open and looking down at Zelgadiss. He jutted him none-too-softly in the side with his staff, which he held in his one existing hand, causing the chimera to groan more. "Almost as heartless as trying to kill someone who just assisted you in mass murder, saving you from whatever trap your friends had set up, fucked your brains out, and admitted that, possibly, despite the fact that he hardly ever felt such feelings for _any_ humans, had started to care a bit about you. Tut-tut, that would be heartless, now, wouldn't it? Oh well, good thing _I _didn't do any of that!"

"Oooh, burn," Ryuk chuckled, then continued eating.

Xelloss smirked. "Well then. Ta-ta, Zelgadiss-san!" And he disappeared, leaving him at the mercy of Lina, Gourry, and Amelia, who had, at just about that moment in time, made it to the mouth of the cave.

"There he is!" Amelia cried out. "He's..."

"Dead?" Gourry gaped. "No way! I guess he wasn't behind all this after all, huh?"

"Oh, he sure was," Lina growled. She glared at Ryuk before stomping over to the chimera. "Get up, you."

"Nghgh," Zelgadiss managed to moan.

Amelia rushed up. "He's hurt!" She started casting a healing spell.

"Oh no you don't," Lina said, pulling Amelia back. She kicked Zelgadiss over onto his back. "Who the hell do you think you are, Zelgadiss?!" she yelled at him.

"Ghngh," was all Zelgadiss could do to respond.

"Hmph," Lina said, crossing her arms. "All right. Gourry, you bring the chain?"

"Yup!" he took it out of his bag.

"All right, tie him up," Lina instructed, and Gourry proceeded to do so, much to the pain of Zelgadiss. Being tied up tightly from neck to toe with chain was not a pleasant experience. Luckily, it didn't hurt his rock skin too much. It was mostly his pride that hurt. On top of Zelgadiss' head, Lina placed a circlet of some sort.

"Okay, Zel," Lina explained. "What we used to tie you up is, of course, enchanted chain. You can't escape from it. The circlet gives you a shock if you try to cast anything. It's painful. Don't try it."

"Can I heal him now?" Amelia asked. Lina nodded, and the priestess set to work.

"Recovery!" Amelia cast, and the paralyzation wore off. "Are you all right, Mr. Zelgadiss?"

"Fine," Zelgadiss grumbled. He couldn't meet Amelia's eyes. He looked at the floor.

"What happened? Who did this to you?"

"Xelloss," Zelgadiss with a grunt.

"Huh. Him? I had no idea he was involved. I guess Xelloss himself delivered you here, didn't he?" Lina concluded.

"Yeah," Zelgadiss muttered.

"All right, down to business," Lina growled. "Where's the paper you used to kill Filia with?"

"In my pack," Zelgadiss informed her. "It's called a 'Death Note.' When Gourry or Amelia touches it, they'll see Ryuk."

"Good to know," Lina said. She searched through the pack, and, lo and behold, there was the Death Note.

"Ryuk?" Amelia asked. "Who's that?"

"Kinda like a mazoku," Lina shrugged. "I guess. He's over there, and you can only see him if you touch this book. He kills people, but can't kill you, me, Gourry, or Zel for some reason." She looked over at Ryuk. "Hey, you. I think I want this dirty thing out of this world. Would anything happen if I burned this?"

"Hey, wait--" Zelgadiss interjected.

Ryuk shrugged. "Zel'll forget all about it. Prob'ly return to who he was before he found it."

"He will?!" Lina gaped. "If I burn it, Zelgadiss will forget about this, and return to normal?"

"Yeah," Ryuk nodded. "But hey, that's good for you, right?"

"Uh, that'd be a good thing, kind of...right?" Amelia asked.

Lina contemplated it for a bit. "Hm. We could burn this, and Zelgadiss will turn back to the way he was before?"

"But then--" Zelgadiss interrupted.

"Shut up!" Lina smacked him. And hurt her hand. "Ow..."

"No one else knows about this, right, Miss Lina?" Amelia pointed out. "You only told me, Gourry, and Filia that it was Mr. Zelgadiss."

"True," Lina agreed.

"But that dragon bracelet!" Zelgadiss protested.

"Hm? Dragon bracelet?" Lina asked.

"Yes. A dragon bracelet. I learned how to make one, and if you erase my memories, I can't make them anymore!"

"Hmm..." Lina thought about that. Then she turned to Ryuk. "He'll forget it?"

"Probably," Ryuk shrugged.

"All right!" Lina flexed her arms. "Teach me how to make this dragon bracelet, then I'll burn the Death Note, and everything will be back to the way it was!"

"Well, I doubt Zel'll forget about Xelloss," Ryuk said.

"Huh?" Lina blinked. "What about Xelloss? What did he do?"

Zelgadiss blushed and swallowed. "N-never mind," he said.

"He fucked him!" Ryuk laughed. Lina blushed bright red.

"What?" Amelia asked.

"N-never mind," Lina echoed Zelgadiss. "Ahem. Okay, Zel. Teach me how to make this dragon bracelet so we can burn this thing and get outta here."

"Just like that?" Zelgadiss' eyes bulged. "You'll just forgive me?"

"Weeell..." Lina replied, "I'll be pretty angry at you for a while. And you won't know why I'm angry at you, either, from the looks of it. So you'll be pretty clueless. And..."

"And?"

"For getting out of this scot-free..." She got right in his face, and said, "You Will Owe Me One."

Zelgadiss gulped. "A-all right, fine! I'll do it!"

"Woohoo! Okay, let's do this thing!" Lina cracked her knuckles. "Amelia, get out a piece of paper and a pen."

"Who? Me?" Amelia blinked.

"Yes, you," Lina growled. "Zelgadiss, dictate to Amelia how to make a dragon amulet thing."

"All right," Zelgadiss stated, and to the best of his ability, started recalling it.

--

A/N Hooray! Happy ending! Bet you didn't think there'd be one, did you? (neither did I... ;; ) All right! Stay tuned for the epilogue!

--


	11. Epilogue

A/N: OH EM GEE I went a whole month without updating? Wow! Sorry guys, I was busy getting my TESOL certificate. 'Twas rather exhausting. But now...

Here you go, the epilogue!

Epilogue

"All right, now massage my feet." Lina poked her foot in the chimera's face. He made a sour face, but obeyed.

Zelgadiss had now been Lina's personal slave for the entirety of two months, and there was no end to it in sight.

The worst part of it was, Zelgadiss had no idea what he had done to deserve this fate. Amelia told him that he'd done _something_, and that Lina had the dirt on him to prove it. Something to do with the recent deaths of all the sorcerers and dragons.

But, truthfully, the month in which all the sorcerers and dragons had died was a complete blur. So he really couldn't refute Amelia's claim. And Amelia really didn't have any reason to lie to him. She didn't seem to be lying, either--whenever the subject came up, she got all teary-eyed and changed the subject.

There was one thing he remembered doing, and he had no idea why the hell he might've done it. But just thinking about it made him hot and sent a shiver down his spine.

Xelloss. What had happened between the two of them? Had it just been some illusion? And the emotions that arose within him when he thought of that scene—Lust, mostly, but also anger, not to mention confusion. There was also something else there he couldn't understand...

"Hey! No drifting!" Lina growled, and Zelgadiss massaged her foot with more fervor.

"Come on, Miss Lina," Amelia whined, coming into the room with snacks. "It's been two months today. Hasn't he paid enough?"

"Have you _forgotten_ what he did?" Lina spat. "Thousands of deaths, all because of Zelgadiss! Not to mention _Filia_."

"Filia?" Zelgadiss looked up from his task. He hadn't heard that before.

"Yeah, you killed her, you dirtbag!" Lina snarled at him. "Go make me a sandwich!"

"Wait, I killed _Filia_?" Zelgadiss couldn't believe his ears.

"Yeah, that's what I said!"

"No way..." Zelgadiss gaped.

"Yes, way. Now go make me a sandwich!" Lina ordered.

"S-sure..." Roboticly, Zelgadiss stood up and made his way into the kitchen.

Amelia sighed and sat down beside Lina. "He doesn't remember any of it," she said, offering her friend a cookie.

"Yeah... and he's completely back to normal... it's like none of it ever happened to him. Which is great, but..."

"But?"

"The _potential_ is there," Lina replied. "The potential for mass murder!" 

"Well, yeah, but if you had that notebook, wouldn't you have done the same?"

That caused Lina's temper to flare up all right. "What are you insinuating?" she said, grounding out every syllable.

"Uh... ah, nothing!" Amelia hastily replied. "Just... well... I think most people might go a little crazy with that much power..." She looked over at Lina. Case in point, she thought.

"Yeah, fine," Lina shrugged. "I guess." She stood up. "All right. I guess we can declare Zel's punishment over... as soon as he gets back here with my sandwich."

Zelgadiss returned a few moments later, a pile of food three feet high with bread on either end of it, dwarfing the silver platter it was on. Just like Lina liked her sandwiches. "Here, Lina," he said, handing it over.

"Thanks!" Lina said, taking the plate. She took a bite out of it... somehow. "All right! Now. Amelia and I have been talking."

"Yeees?" Zelgadiss prompted, sitting down on the couch next to them. "What now?"

"Well," Lina said between bites, "We think you've atoned."

"Really? _Finally_," Zelgadiss said, rolling his eyes.

"Mmhmm." Lina finished up the sandwich and took a folded-up stack of paper. "This is all the dirt I've got on ya. Come on, let's go outside."

Lina led the two of them out of the palace, where she threw the stack of paper on the ground. "All right," she said. "Oh, and before we start, I looked through it. It doesn't have any info on your cure."

"Um... okay," Zelgadiss replied, completely clueless. "Good to know I guess."

"Flare arrow!" Lina cast, and it all went up in flame. Once it was burnt beyond legibility, she turned to Amelia. "All right. Let's go back."

"All right!" Amelia said, turning around and walking back inside with Lina. "I guess that means you'll stop mooching off of the royal family now, right?"

"FIREBALL!" Zelgadiss heard Lina cast behind him at Amelia. He winced reflexively.

--

The chimera stood there for a while, watching the papers burn. The only evidence of whatever happened in that lost month, and he was kind of happy it was gone. Still very curious, though. He smirked a little as he heard the antics of the two of them. Those were his friends, all right. He would never do anything to hurt any of them, no matter what they said.

"I thought they'd never leave you alone!" came a voice. Zelgadiss started and looked around. There, near him, stood Xelloss. "They've been watching you night and day, you know."

"R-really." Zelgadiss blushed as the images from that day flooded back to his mind. He was caught off guard, but he still felt just as much suspicion as ever towards the priest... if not more. And he was angry at Xelloss for some reason, but also kind of guilty. He just didn't get it.

"Yes. So... I've been told you've completely lost any recollection of what happened."

"Well...Mostly, yes," he nodded, looking away to hide his blush. Zelgadiss wasn't about to admit that the only thing he remembered was their time spent together between the sheets.

"Is that...so," Xelloss said. He looked kind of disappointed, somehow, as if he'd been looking for a different answer. "Well... in any case... I came here to deliver this." He took something out of his pocket. A bracelet, one that looked exactly like the ones he'd supposedly taught Lina to make. Not that any of them had worked, of course. Possibly because the runes were so difficult to replicate without actually seeing a picture of them.

"That's..."

"A bracelet," Xelloss said. "One you made. One with enough power to kill me in one blow, and with minimal casting time. Almost impossible to dodge, too." He smiled a little and held it out to him. His eyes were open and watching the chimera.

Zelgadiss took it out of the offered hand. "Why are you giving this to me? And how do you know it's impossible to dodge..." Zelgadiss' eyes widened. He must have used it on Xelloss, he realized.

"Why am I giving it to you?" Xelloss repeated, ignoring Zelgadiss' second question. "Ah...well, it is yours, after all," Xelloss said, seeming even more put off than before. "And I think I can trust you with it."

Zelgadiss shrugged. "If you say so. I don't think I trust myself right now..."

Xelloss' smile became a little bit comforting. "I think you're back to normal, Zelgadiss-san." He watched the chimera for a moment before continuing, looking very pleased, yet sad for some reason. "To activate Chaotic Disintegrate, chant this: Anaku, Sarumu, Nataku, Sakumu."

Zelgadiss repeated, careful to keep his mind clear as he did so.

"Right. For Holy Ward, chant: Oraku, Turamu, Kataku, Asamu."

Zelgadiss memorized the two spells, then was quiet.

"What is it?" Xelloss asked.

Zelgadiss shrugged. "You're just acting very oddly, and I don't know why..."

"You really don't remember anything, do you," Xelloss said, frowning a little bit.

"No, I don't," Zelgadiss lied.

Xelloss sat down on the ground, and, grudgingly, Zelgadiss joined him. "Perhaps that's for the best..." Xelloss replied, looking off into the distance.

Zelgadiss snorted. "No it's not. I want to know what happened." He growled and held up the bracelet. "The entire month is completely lost to me! All that's left is fragments, feelings..." he swallowed and blushed. He hadn't meant to reveal that much.

"You _do_ remember something!" Xelloss brightened a little bit. Which was still strange, since Xelloss almost never showed emotion of any sort.

"I guess..." Zelgadiss mumbled.

Xelloss grinned. "If you'd like, I could fill in some of the gaps."

Zelgadiss sighed. "Lina and Amelia refuse to say anything... but I don't know if I could trust your recounting of the past."

Xelloss frowned a bit, then he opened his eyes. "I will never lie to you, Zelgadiss," he said, and shivers went down Zelgadiss's spine. "I may stretch the truth, I may omit parts, but I will not _lie_."

Zelgadiss looked away, staring at the bracelet. It was now or never. "Fine. Tell me, Xelloss. Did we have sex?"

Xelloss started. Then he replied, quietly, "Yes."

"Why? Somehow it doesn't feel like, even in whatever state of mind I'd been in before, it would be something I'd do willingly."

Xelloss looked away, almost looking like he'd been slapped. Much more expressive than usual, that's for sure.

"Ah...sorry..." Zelgadiss mumbled, surprising himself. Wasn't he angry at Xelloss for some reason?

Well, yes, partly... but also... He shook his head. He couldn't figure it out at all.

"It was a deal," Xelloss replied. "I helped you destroy Lina and Amelia's traps and pass through undetected. In return, you had sex with me."

"Ah." That made things a little clearer... almost. But why had Xelloss wanted to have sex with him in the first place? That was the confusing part.

"Anything else?" Xelloss asked.

"I... feel guilty for some reason," Zelgadiss admitted. "I don't get it."

Xelloss smirked a little. "Well. That's because, ahem, you tried to kill me afterwards. With that bracelet."

"Uh... for no reason at all?" Zelgadiss asked.

"That's right," Xelloss replied. "For no reason at all, aside from the fact that you were angry at me. I believe that you blamed me for your lack of control over...well, the world. Also... well, because I had technically forced you to have sex with me."

"I see..." It didn't help Zelgadiss feel any less guilty, hearing it like that.

"If it helps, I've forgiven you," Xelloss whispered, looking into Zelgadiss' eyes.

Zelgadiss looked back at the ground. "It does, somewhat. But for some reason... I still feel really angry at you, as well."

"Ah! I can explain that one, as well. Well, aside from the obvious reasons..."

"Huh?" Zelgadiss asked.

"You see, after you betrayed me, I in turn betrayed you. So I suppose we're even!" Xelloss grinned. 

"You did?" Zelgadiss blinked.

"Yes. After your attempt at killing me failed, I handed you over to Lina-san," Xelloss explained.

"Oh."

"Mmhmm," Xelloss replied. Then he was quiet for a moment, before stating, "I did it in anger, honestly, but I suppose it's the best way things could have turned out. She forgave you rather quickly, and... hm..." he paused, as if considering how best to explain it. "By stripping you of your murder weapon, and in turn destroying your memories of it, she managed to save you. Something I hadn't managed to do."

"My memories were destroyed when she took the weapon?" Zelgadiss blinked, suddenly alarmed. "That sounds like...possession! Did she destroy the weapon?"

"Ah... yes, she did," Xelloss nodded. "But sadly, it wasn't possession. You'd simply gone mad with power."

"Oh," Zelgadiss replied, and deflated. That would have been an easy out, he admitted.

"Don't blame yourself," Xelloss chided. "I'm sure most humans would have reacted the way you did given that much power. It was quite a bit, after all."

"I see," Zelgadiss replied. "One other thing is bothering me. You said you hadn't managed to save me?"

"That's correct."

"You'd tried?"

"Well, more or less," Xelloss said. "There wasn't a ton that I could do, to tell you the truth."

"There wasn't?"

"No," Xelloss said. "Not without... well, that's a secret."

Zelgadiss scowled. "Well, then, what was your objective?"

Xelloss considered that for a moment. "Well, I can't tell you that either... not without risking you changing back."

"Oh..." Zelgadiss frowned at the idea.

"I don't know if you can or not, to tell you the truth. But just to be safe," Xelloss said. "But it wasn't anything you need to be concerned about. I did tell you before."

"If you say so..." Zelgadiss replied. "I just forgot. Like everything else."

"Indeed," Xelloss replied, and Zelgadiss realized he'd said more than he should have.

After all, there seemed to be a lot of very, very important things that he'd forgotten.

"I don't suppose..." Xelloss said, "That you might consider having dinner with me?"

Zelgadiss started. "Dinner?" That had been completely out of the blue. He knew they'd had sex, but it had obviously been forced, and...

"Ah well, it was worth a try," Xelloss said, standing up and dusting himself off.

Zelgadiss stood up as well, emotions rushing through him. What if this was some sort of a trick? What if it wasn't? How could he know if Xelloss was telling the truth? And even if he was, was that any reason to trust him? On the other hand, he didn't really have anything to lose...and the lust he felt for the priest was undeniable, as much as he'd like to deny it. And he didn't really feel angry at him anymore at all. But the one thing he remembered clearly was just how rough and dominant Xelloss had been. That he couldn't deal with. "I... wait."

"Hm?" Xelloss turned, waiting.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" Xelloss lifted an eyebrow. "That's not exactly much of an answer, Zelgadiss-san."

"Xelloss, tell me. Why were you so rough?"

Xelloss' eyes widened in surprise. "I thought you didn't remember that much."

"Well, I did," Zelgadiss replied. "You were very rough, and... if you plan on treating me that roughly in the future, then there is no chance of a relationship between the two of us. At all."

"No, of course not! Zelgadiss, that was..." he paused, then cleared his throat. "I was a bit angry at you at the time for not considering my... feelings."

"Oh." Zelgadiss blushed. "Well then, um, in that case..."

Xelloss took a step closer, and placed a kiss on Zelgadiss' lips.

This kiss was soft, gentle, loving, and completely different from any of the kisses Zelgadiss remembered. Zelgadiss felt himself pressing into the kiss, and then it was he who licked Xelloss' lip softly, requesting entry. Xelloss obliged, and Zelgadiss eagerly explored Xelloss' mouth.

When the kiss broke, Xelloss was smiling at him, but he looked a little annoyed about something.

"What's wrong?" Zelgadiss asked.

"Ah... nothing, Zelgadiss. A mutual acquaintance of ours is just finally leaving our world, and decided to get a last comment in before he flew away."

"Uh... who?" Zelgadiss looked confused.

"Just someone. He's invisible and inaudible," Xelloss said. "Forget about it. It's nothing. Another piece of that month best forgotten."

Zelgadiss sighed. "If you say so. This is really going to be a pain... somehow, I've kind of felt like Gourry for the past two months."

Xelloss smiled. "Well, I can fill you in on more when the time is right. For now, how about that dinner?"

"Sure," Zelgadiss returned with a smile. This whole thing was more than weird, but somehow, being with Xelloss felt kind of nice. And together, the two walked out of the palace walls, into Seyruun city.

But Ryuk's last comment had stuck in Xelloss' mind, along with that annoying cackling. "Humans_ and _Mazoku are very amusing creatures, I think. See you again _real_ soon, Xelloss." And with that, he'd left.

--

A/N: You know, when I was drafting this story, I completely expected everyone to die and the world to end. Huh! Pretty happy it didn't turn out that way...

But also kinda disappointed. No world-ending explosions... : sigh :

Kind of why I called it Zelgadiss's Slow Descent, too. Because I expected him to die or go absolutely bats crazy by the end. Well, I guess he kind of was, wasn't he? Hm.

R&R! Cuz I, Chocolate Covered Demon (aka Watashi no Kakumei), am a review whore. And the more ya say ya love me, the more I'll put out. Heh heh heh heh.

And yes, there will be a Sequel. It will be much brighter, I think. Well, in some ways.


End file.
